Man Sentenced to 2 Years After Pleading Guilty to Unauthorized Use of Vehicle, Eluding Police in Stolen Car
NORFOLK, Va. — Justice Raliek Green, 26, was sentenced on Oct. 10 to serve two years in prison after he pleaded guilty to unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and eluding, both felonies, after police arrested him for driving a stolen car last year.
Around 8 a.m. on Oct. 7, 2024, the victim reported her car stolen after she noticed it missing from her usual parking spot outside her residence on Leicester Avenue. Norfolk Police patrol officers saw the stolen car around 10 p.m. the same day near the intersection of Falkland and Bonnot drives and attempted to pull it over. The driver, later identified as Mr. Green, did not stop and sped off going more than 60 mph in the residential 25 mph zone. Mr. Green left the roadway several times during the resulting pursuit, crossing over sidewalks and driving through a field, before pulling into a driveway, exiting the car, and hiding in bushes until the officers found and arrested him.
On May 29, Mr. Green entered an agreement to plead guilty to felony unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and felony eluding and face a sentence of up to two years and six months in prison. The maximum agreed sentence was near the midpoint of Mr. Green’s sentencing guidelines. In exchange for his guilty pleas, the Commonwealth agreed to amend Mr. Green’s original charge of grand larceny of an automobile to unauthorized use, which is a lesser felony. Judge Jennifer L. Fuschetti accepted Mr. Green’s plea agreement and found him guilty.
At his sentencing hearing on Oct. 10, the Commonwealth argued for Mr. Green to receive the maximum allowable sentence of two years and six months, and his defense counsel argued for him to receive a sentence that amounted to time served. After hearing the arguments, Judge Fuschetti sentenced Mr. Green to serve two years in prison and suspended another five years on the condition that Mr. Green be of uniform good behavior for five years after his release.
“I express my appreciation to the officers and investigator for arresting Mr. Green so promptly,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “The shorter the time from crime to arrest, the stronger the evidence of guilt tends to be. In this case, that enabled the victim to get her car back sooner and us to secure accountability against Mr. Green.”
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Tara Sue Terwilliger prosecuted Mr. Green’s case, and Norfolk Police Detective Joseph J. Caruso led the investigation.
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