By Nancy Drury Duncan –
“The inmates in cellblock E in the Accomack County Jail had organized their lives in jail,” said Northampton County Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Jack Thornton. “They had a civil order,” he said.
He told the court the inmates had a system that worked well. Each person had time to use the telephone, a general order that made life behind bars easier. Then, a stranger moved in. Derek Robinson, from New Jersey, had his own way of doing things and apparently was not accepting of the “civil order.”
Thornton said Robinson made threats of bodily harm. There was a fight. After “8 or 9 minutes,” deputies came and broke it up, Thornton said. Most of the men watched from the sidelines. But three who did not were charged with malicious wounding and malicious wounding by a mob.
Corbin Drummond, 42, of Atlantic, and Traquan Timmons, 39, of Tasley, each pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of unlawful wounding in a plea agreement with the commonwealth. The charges of malicious wounding by a mob and malicious wounding were nolle prossed (the decision to not prosecute).
Thornton said he entered into the agreement because Robinson, the victim, “brought much of it upon himself. He infringed on the phone time of another, mouthed off, and generally caused a disturbance,” Thornton said. He said what started as a verbal altercation soon became a fight.
He said Robinson struck Dijon Smith. Smith got on top of Robinson and Timmons piled on top of them. “Drummond kicked him a few times,” said Thornton. From a few minutes of mutual combat, it became of a group of three men beating up on Robinson, he said. Robinson was taken to the hospital. Thornton said the attack may have been provoked but it “went too far.” He told the court the victim was released on bail and has since gone missing. He did not come to court to testify against his attackers. According to the terms of the plea agreement, active jail time will be at the midpoint of the sentencing guidelines. The two men will be on supervised probation for one year and on good behavior for 10 years.
The case of the third man, Dijon Rykeem Smith, 30, of Fredericksburg, Va., who Thornton said was more culpable than Drummond and Timmons, was continued to April 7 because the victim was not there to testify. Judge W. Revell Lewis III warned Thornton he might not be inclined to continue to the case again if Robinson is not in court to testify on that date.
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Brandon Michael Expectacion, 32, of Baltimore, will spend four years and two months in prison for his conviction of breaking into and entering a home and for possession of cocaine. In June 2020, Robert Hill and his wife were watching television at about 9 p.m. in their Trails End home when someone began shouting and banging on their door. At Expectacion’s trial, Hill said he got up and partially opened the door when the man pushed the door open and shoved him out of the way. He said the intruder was sweating profusely and said someone was trying to kill him. Hill said his wife ran outside in fear. He said the man appeared to be under the influence of something. He said the man went into the kitchen and came back waving a butcher knife. Hill said he was frightened and ran outside also. He said he heard the sound of his door locking behind as he left.
When police arrived, Hill said he went back inside and found his wife’s purse with its contents scattered and a lockbox that appeared to have been thrown against a wall though nothing appeared to be missing.
Expectacion said later he had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and was having a paranoid episode. He said he had been hospitalized for the condition. “This is not the first time he has broken into someone’s house,” said Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney William Fox, reading from a list of convictions beginning in 2008.
“You have accumulated a significant record,” said Judge Lewis. “Your mental health issues, as well as drug abuse, may explain why, but not excuse it.” He sentenced Expectacion to 10 years for breaking and entering, and suspended six years, and sentenced him to two years for possession of cocaine, with all but two months suspended. He noted that Expectacion was already on supervised probation in Maryland and ordered him to be on good behavior for 10 years.
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Adjudication was deferred for two years in the case of Lisa Marie Farrell, 41, of Chincoteague. Farrell is charged with possession of cocaine. If she successfully completes probation, the charge will be dismissed. The charges arose from Sept. 2, 2020, incidents at Don’s Seafood and ChincoTiki. Farrell was yelling at other customers and causing a disturbance, said Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney William Fox.
When officers arrived, she was arrested for being drunk in public and taken to the Chincoteague police department. She told police she left her purse at the restaurant. When it was retrieved, she admitted it was her purse. A search revealed a small white baggie containing cocaine. She told the officers she bought it that evening on Chincoteague.
“I hope you can get yourself straight,” said Judge Lewis. “I hope this was out of character.” He told her the charge would be dismissed if she successfully completed two years of probation.
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Nicholas Kennedy, 35, of Chincoteague, pleaded guilty to possession of hydrocodone. In June 2021, he was arrested when police responded to a call of a car driving erratically on Main Street.
When stopped, he told police he had recently cut his foot and that pressing the gas pedal caused him pain, said Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael Baker. He said the officer noted he had crutches and that his foot was wrapped. When he was getting his driver’s license from a bag, the officer noticed several small, white pills.
Laboratory analysis showed them to be hydrocodone. He said a friend gave them to him for pain. Kennedy is set for sentencing on April 21 in this case and another drug possession case.
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Joshua Michael Sorber, 27, of Wallop’s Island, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of assault and battery of a household member in a plea agreement with the commonwealth. He was originally charged with malicious wounding, a felony.
After midnight in July 2021, police responded to a home where they found a woman lying on the kitchen floor. She was taken to the emergency room, said Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Fox. While there, she told authorities what Sorber told them had happened was not true.
She said she came home to find Sorber, a longtime boyfriend, waiting for her in her driveway. He confronted her when she got out of her car. She said he took her cellphone and looked at her messages, then picked her up and slammed her to the ground. She said she crawled into the house. She was found to have broken ribs from the incident.
Fox said the woman is satisfied with the plea agreement. Sorber was sentenced to 12 months in jail with all but time served suspended. He was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $752.73 and a protective order already against him was extended for two more years. Judge Lewis commented that the assaulted woman is approximately 5 feet, 2 inches tall and weighs 100 pounds. “I hope this is a wake-up call for you,’ he told Sorber. “I suggest you might want to take anger management classes.”
