Legal Question in Criminal Law in Virginia

My consultant -- a genius in criminal defense law -- jokes that he doesn't know how much time people might get if convicted because his clients are never found guilty. Of course he is exaggerating a bit, and there is no way of predicting the results in a particular case. There are too many individual details of the facts and the law and possibly a jury.

However, the point of his joke is important: Why are you assuming that you are going to lose? Perhaps you think well I did "IT" -- more accurately you maybe did "SOMETHING" that is possibly NOT what you are bieng charged with. The question is not whether you did "something" but whether you did EXACTLY what you are being charged with.

Even then, there are a great many questions that come into play as to whether or not you might be found not guilty or the charges thrown out, evidence suppressed, etc., etc.

That being said, it appears that you are being charged with a whopping 6 felonies. In other words, you NEED to put up a full-scale fight on this. A person might be able to cop a plea to 1 misdemeanor. But facing 6 felonies your life is on the line an dyou need to fight it like your life depends upon it.... because it does.

The answer to your question is an impomssible one, because with the help of a good criminal defense lawyer some or all of the charges might be knocked out, reduced, etc. So by the time you are actually sentenced, if ever, the picture could look dramatically different. You might be sentenced for only one felony and one misdemeanor instead of 6 felonies.

Also, what kind of sentence you get would be dramatically impacted by your prior record and other personal factors.

The judge could also decide to count any sentences from different charges "concurrently" or else back-to-back. So 3 convictions for 5 years could mean 5 years or 15 years.

Forging and uttering under � 18.2-172. are a Class 5 felony

Larceny of a check under � 18.2-98.is a either a grand larceny if the value stolen was $200 or more (punishable by up to 20 years or or else a misdemeanor if the value stolen was less than $200.

Obtaining money or signature, etc., by false pretense, if that is the charge, under � 18.2-178. is a Class 4 felony

Identity theft under � 18.2-186.3 is either a Class 6 felony if the value lost is $200 or more or a Class 1 Misdemeanor if the value is less than $200.

I am not sure what you are being charged with regarding a false statement, because there are many different statutes involving false statements. However, it appears to be a Class 1 misdemeanor if for the purpose of getting credit or similar property.

So, this would be 2 Class 5 felonies, 1 class 4 felony, 1 class 6 felony (probably if $200 or more), a Class 1 misdemenaor and a particular crime specifically up to 20 years.

You can see the penalty for these at:

http://www.defenseforvirginia.com/penalties.html