Man Sentenced to Serve More Than Two Years for Petit Larceny from Norfolk Target and for Violation of Probation on Previous Larceny

NORFOLK, Va. — Fentroy Spevey, 64, was sentenced on Dec. 15 to serve 24 months in jail after he pleaded guilty to two counts of petit larceny for stealing from the Norfolk Target store on two occasions and was sentenced to an additional three months in custody for violating the terms of his probation from a prior felony theft case.

On the morning of July 1, 2024, Mr. Spevey went to the Target store on North Military Highway, put six Lego sets from the toy section inside his shopping cart, covered those Lego sets with four towels from the bath section, and pushed the cart out of the store without paying. Loss-prevention officers did not apprehend Mr. Spevey but were able to determine that the value of what Mr. Spevey stole was about $933.

On the night of Feb. 18, 2025, Mr. Spevey walked into the same Target store, put a stand mixer from the kitchen section into his shopping cart, covered the mixer with seven articles of men’s clothing, and pushed the cart out of the store without paying. Once again, loss-prevention officers were unable to apprehend Mr. Spevey, and the items he stole were valued at about $464.

At the time Mr. Spevey committed these thefts in Norfolk, Target Loss Prevention was tracking him but could not attach a name to his face to file criminal charges. Mr. Spevey was unhoused at the time and did not have a car. Target Loss Prevention had also observed Mr. Spevey committing a theft of over $1,000 in merchandise from a Target store in Henrico County on July 2, 2024. Mr. Spevey was ultimately arrested in Henrico County for that offense, he was charged with grand larceny, to which he pleaded guilty, and he was sentenced to serve one year in prison.

The Henrico County arrest and conviction resulted in a violation of Mr. Spevey’s supervised probation in Norfolk for a theft he had committed against his employer in 2019. In that case, Mr. Spevey had originally been sentenced to serve two years in prison with three additional years suspended, and he had since served an additional seven months and fifteen days for a prior violation of his probation. Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi, then a Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney, had prosecuted Mr. Spevey for the 2019 offense and, per a policy he implemented as Commonwealth’s Attorney, he was assigned to address any subsequent violations of probation.

After Mr. Fatehi became aware of the circumstances of the Henrico County theft, he contacted loss prevention at the Norfolk Target store to inquire whether Mr. Spevey was a suspect in any thefts from their store. Loss-prevention officers provided Mr. Fatehi with the evidence for the July 1, 2024, and Feb. 18, 2025, offenses, and Mr. Fatehi secured indictments for petit larceny against Mr. Spevey.

On Dec. 15, Mr. Spevey pleaded guilty to the two counts of petit larceny as charged and to violating the terms of his probation in exchange for a single sentencing hearing for those offenses. There was no agreement between the parties as to the sentence Mr. Spevey would receive. At sentencing, Mr. Fatehi argued that Mr. Spevey should serve 24 months in jail for the two counts of petit larceny — 12 months each being the maximum sentence allowable by law — and an additional three months and 15 days in prison for violating his probation.

After hearing arguments from the Commonwealth and Mr. Spevey’s defense counsel, Judge Robert B. Rigney sentenced Mr. Spevey to serve 24 months in jail plus an additional three months in prison for violating his probation. Those sentences will run consecutively to the one year in prison that Mr. Spevey will be serving for his Henrico County conviction. Judge Rigney resuspended the remaining prison time in the 2019 case on the conditions that Mr. Spevey complies with a ban from both the Norfolk Target store and a one-block radius of his former place of employment and that Mr. Spevey pays $1,367 in restitution to Target as well as his remaining restitution to the victim in the 2019 case.

“One of the first things I did when I became Commonwealth’s Attorney was institute a rule that the prosecutor who handles a conviction handles all probation violations on that case afterward. That rule applies to everyone in the office, including me,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “I instituted that rule because any good prosecutor will remember the details of an old case with a little prompting, and nobody will be better situated to determine what is a fair disposition should someone reoffend. I have been professionally aware of Mr. Spevey since 2019, and with the information I learned from Henrico County, I was able to work with Target Loss Prevention to convict Mr. Spevey of crimes he had committed in Norfolk that would otherwise have gone uncharged. The essence of progressive prosecution is to use data and criminal intelligence to identify repeat criminal actors and hold them appropriately accountable, thereby affording diversion, treatment, and alternatives to people who have simply made mistakes. My office and I will continue to work on cases, from homicides to shoplifting and everything in between, and mete out fair justice as best we can.”

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July 14, 2023

Norfolk Man Sentenced to 2 Years for Grand Larceny for Stealing Nearly $2,000 from his Ghent Restaurant Employer

NORFOLK, Va. – Today, a Norfolk judge sentenced 62-year-old Fentroy Spevey to an active two years in prison for stealing nearly $2,000 worth of cash and gift certificates from a locally-owned restaurant in Ghent.

While working at the restaurant, Mr. Spevey picked up odd jobs two or three days a week and occasionally washed cars in the restaurant’s back parking lot. The afternoon of July 17, 2019, Mr. Spevey went inside the restaurant, covered the surveillance camera with a rag, broke the lock on the cabinet behind the bar, and stole a petty cash box containing $1,470 in cash and an undetermined amount of gift certificates likely worth an additional $500. Surveillance video showed Mr. Spevey inside the restaurant prior to the theft, but it did not record the theft itself due to the rag covering the camera.

That same evening, a bartender discovered the theft and reported it to the restaurant owners, who then reviewed the surveillance video and reported the theft to Norfolk Police. Mr. Spevey never returned to work and was not heard from by restaurant personnel after the theft. Mr. Spevey has a history of robbery, burglary, larceny, and fraud reaching to the early 1990s.

In June 2022, after consultation with the victim, Mr. Spevey pleaded to a deferred finding of guilt for grand larceny, and Judge David W. Lannetti accepted his plea. The conditions of the finding under advisement were that Mr. Spevey be of good behavior, pay full restitution to the restaurant, perform community service, and not have contact with personnel from or be within a block of the restaurant. Had Mr. Spevey complied, his case was to be reduced to a misdemeanor with a suspended sentence.

Mr. Spevey failed to abide by the terms of his plea by, among other things, committing two new petit larcenies in Virginia Beach. On Friday, Judge Lannetti sentenced Mr. Spevey to two active years in prison, with an additional three years in prison suspended on the conditions that Mr. Spevey be of uniform good behavior for three years, complete up to one year of supervised probation, and pay restitution. Mr. Spevey’s sentence was at the top end of his advisory sentencing guidelines.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi prosecuted Mr. Spevey’s case.

“Mr. Spevey abused the trust and friendship of his boss, stealing from the man who wanted to help him get on his feet,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “We offered Mr. Spevey a chance to reform, make amends to the victim, and avoid a felony conviction and prison. Unfortunately, Mr. Spevey did not make the most of that chance. Mr. Spevey will now serve a sentence that reflects his long record and the crime he committed. I hope that he will be able to do better when he returns to our community.”

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