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Fairfax County judges reject over two dozen plea deals, pushing back on leniency
In a rare clash from the bench, Fairfax County judges have rejected more than 24 negotiated plea agreements over the past year, citing sentences deemed too lenient and prosecutors failing to fully disclose the brutality of offenses. The scrutinized cases involve child abuse, domestic abduction, and animal cruelty—with prosecutors subsequently dropping charges entirely in some violent cases after judicial pushback.
FAIRFAX, Va. - Fairfax County judges have rejected more than two dozen criminal plea agreements over the past year, pushing back against prosecutors over sentences deemed too lenient and critical case facts left out of court proceedings.
What we know:
While judges rarely reject negotiated plea agreements when prosecutors and defense counsel are aligned on sentencing, FOX 5 Chief Legal Correspondent Katie Barlow found that multiple judges in Fairfax County have taken the unusual step of tossing out more than 24 negotiated deals over the last 12 months.
The rejected agreements span cases involving child abuse, domestic abduction, assault on law enforcement and severe animal cruelty. Court records show judges repeatedly pushed back after finding proposed sentences insufficient or discovering that prosecutors failed to fully disclose the brutality of alleged offenses.
Case scrutinized by judges:
Court records detail several high-profile cases where judges refused to accept agreements negotiated by the Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney's Office:
- Shanoa Darlene Camp: Camp was indicted for child abuse after a 9-year-old boy reported that she repeatedly beat him with metal rods and cords between 2022 and 2024. The child told investigators he was locked inside a bedroom daily, forced to sleep on the floor and made to urinate in a bottle. Two separate judges rejected two different plea agreements after ruling the proposed penalties were insufficient. It took prosecutors three attempts before Judge Dipti Pidikiti-Smith ultimately accepted a deal sentencing Camp to five months in jail.
- Desean Khaliq Williams: Williams was charged with abducting his partner in January and preventing police from intervening after responding officers observed the victim struggling to open her left eye. State sentencing guidelines recommended between one year and 10 months up to five years and three months in prison. The initial plea agreement negotiated by prosecutors proposed zero active incarceration. Judge Tania Saylor rejected the deal, stating that while she was not criticizing counsel's negotiations, the proposal was insufficient given the facts of the case.
- Bryan Rojas: Rojas barricaded himself inside an apartment during a December 2023 standoff with law enforcement, swinging a machete at an officer. He was arrested for attempted malicious wounding of a police officer. Inside the residence, officers discovered a kitten suffering from stab wounds, blunt force trauma, and part of its brain exposed. When prosecutors attempted to downgrade the animal abuse charge from a felony to a misdemeanor, the presiding judge rejected the agreement, writing: "The Commonwealth’s repeated failure to fully inform the court of the severity, lethality, and brutality of the injuries ... distorted these proceedings."
Charges dropped after pushback:
Following the judicial pushback, prosecutors took further action in two of the scrutinized cases. The Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office eventually dropped the animal cruelty charge against Rojas entirely and dropped the abduction charge against Williams.
What we don't know:
The Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office has not yet responded to FOX 5's requests for comment regarding the rejected agreements or why the charges were ultimately dismissed. County offices were closed for the holiday during regular business hours when requests were submitted.
The Source: This article was written using Fairfax County court records.