Cocaine Dealer Sentenced

LUNENBURG – Jonathan Travon Roberts, a 22-year-old Charlotte County man residing at 140 Lacks Lane, Red Oak, Virginia, formerly of Saxe, was sentenced to an active prison term of one year recently in Lunenburg Circuit Court upon pleading guilty to two felony drug charges of Distribution of Cocaine.

He has an additional 39 years in Lunenburg suspended subject to numerous conditions.

Roberts pled guilty to the offenses earlier in the year and requested a presentence report to be prepared by the probation officer.  He asked for alternative sentencing programs of the Detention Center Program and the Diversion Center Program, but was determined to be ineligible because of health reasons.

According to Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert Clement, the local narcotics task force, under the direction of Sgt. Adam Martin of the Lunenburg Sheriff’s Office, worked an undercover operation and purchased $100 worth of cocaine from Roberts on each of the two buys in Lunenburg.  Roberts, who had no prior criminal record, said he started selling because his mother insisted he do something to make money to contribute to the household expenses.  Afterwards, Roberts moved out of his mother’s house to go live with his girlfriend at her mother’s house. He and his girlfriend just had a baby.

Roberts’ additional 39 years are suspended upon conditions of good behavior, supervised probation upon his release for two years, warrantless searches and seizures, counseling, revocation of driver’s license for one year, and restitution of $393 to the State Police for drug-buy money and money paid to the undercover operative.