Virginia Beach man sentenced to 25 years in fatal drive-by shooting

Posted to: Crime Virginia Beach
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By Shawn Day
The Virginian-Pilot
© June 30, 2009

VIRGINIA BEACH

A Virginia Beach man was sentenced to serve 25 years in prison today for his role in a fatal drive-by shooting.

Jurors convicted Robert A. “Russell" Hawkes Jr., 21, in March of second-degree murder and conspiracy in the death of Rhakeem Rogers, who was gunned down Aug. 24, 2007, as he stood on a doorstep on Richard Road.

The jury recommended he serve 25 years, and on Tuesday, Judge A. Bonwill Shockley confirmed their sentence.

Hawkes was one of three people charged in the killing. Prosecutors eventually dropped charges against Hawkes’ then-pregnant 17-year-old girlfriend, Trexy Meregillano, and Travis Leonard Wilson, 21, but they retained the right to refile them.

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BTW, 25 years means he's out in 10-13.

Submitted by bmccormick on Tue, 06/30/2009 at 4:38 pm.

If he behaves well in prison, he'll be back in the 'hood before my son graduates high school. This concerns me greatly. I don't understand the gulf in sentencing between common thugs and the rest of society. The law, as it applies to local gang members in Norfolk, Hampton and Portsmouth, allows their sentence to be reduced to the minimum (i.e.- 25 years) for heinous acts such as murder and rape. Meanwhile, Average Joe goes temporarily psycho, perhaps in the heat of passion, murders his coworker, and gets LIFE in prison. One person gets life imprisonment for murder, while another gets a virtual slap on the wrist. If you ask me, the scale of jurisprudence, as evidenced here in the Hampton Roads area, is severely imbalanced.

I agree with your sentiment

Submitted by skispcs on Tue, 06/30/2009 at 5:54 pm.

I agree with your sentiment but barring something out of the ordinary most criminals are required to do at least 85% of the time. In 1995 Virginia abolished parole and the effective 85% requirement. This means he will do about 21 years give or take a bit.

Now the real problem is that since 1995 the amount of suspended sentences has increased dramatically. Before 95 the criminal would get sentenced to 20 years and actually do 8, now they get sentenced to 20 and the judge suspends 10 and they end up only doing about 8 or 85% of 10 years.

It is hard to know for sure what happened here without your own research because typical Pilot reporting would be to only report the sentence and forget to report on any suspended part, thus leading the reader to think that this guy will actually spend the whole sentence in jail.

Thats it ?

Submitted by skispcs on Tue, 06/30/2009 at 2:59 pm.

Well we all know that over 70% of violent crimes are committed by people with a criminal history.
The majority of convicted felons that are released are recidivists and will commit more crimes.
This guy will be back out on the streets and will probably kill again.
At that time there will be a hue and cry for more restrictive laws for law abiding citizens and the laws will be continued to be ignored by people like this.
This is piece of the puzzle that needs to be fixed.