NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — 33-year-old Jihard Rasheed Smith was sentenced on Tuesday to serve one year and two months in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm and possessing a Schedule II drug last year and for failing to appear in court for those charges earlier this year, according to court records.
After a vehicle’s tags were ran by police showing the owner to have outstanding warrants, the driver of a vehicle was pulled over on Oct. 12, 2023. Smith was a passenger in the car when police approached and saw an L-shaped bulge indicating a concealed weapon. After police went to their car and returned, the bulge was gone.
The officers served the driver with his outstanding warrant and placed him under arrest and then asked Smith to get out of the vehicle and asked if he had a firearm. Smith said, “No.” However, officers found a gun under his seat.
Smith was a felon, and therefore unable to possess a firearm. He was then arrested.
Smith was held in the Norfolk City Jail and later released on bond in a subsequent Norfolk General District Court hearing. Smith did not come to court for his preliminary hearing the following month, was charged with felony failure to appear, and remained a fugitive until May 2024.
On May 23, 2024, Smith was apprehended by Norfolk State University Police on Corprew Avenue. The officers arrested Mr. Smith due to his outstanding warrants. When Smith was searched subsequent to his arrest, officers found pills in his pocket that were later tested and confirmed to contain fentanyl, which is a Schedule II controlled substance that is illegal to possess without a prescription.
On Tuesday, Smith pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, failing to appear in court, and possessing a Schedule II drug and agreed to serve one year and two months in prison with another five years and 10 months suspended on the conditions that he complete four years of uniform good behavior, two years of supervised probation, and substance abuse treatment. Judge Jamilah D. LeCruise accepted Smith’s plea agreement and sentenced him per the agreement.
“People convicted of felonies should not possess guns, period, and nobody should mix drugs and guns,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “We will continue to hold accountable people who possess weapons illegally.”