Legal Question in Criminal Law in Virginia

Re: Class-5 felony

There are six classes of felonies recognized in the Criminal Code of the Commonwealth with Class 1 being the most serious which includes capital offenses and murder 1 and Class 6, the least serious.

Class 5 felonies involve crimes deemed to be a

little more serious than Class 6 types. The punishment prescribed for Class 5 felonies is

"a term of imprisonment of not less than one year nor more than 10 years, or in the discretion of the jury or court trying the case without a jury, confinement in jail for not more than twelve months and a fine of not more than $2500, either or both." Va. Code Sec. 18.2-10

An example of a crime categorized as a Class 5 felony would be distributing certain drugs such as marijuana by a person age 18 years or older to a minor at least three years his junior. Va. Code Sec. 18.2-255