A City of Richmond man who was the primary focus of an investigation into drug trafficking in Essex County will spend the next three years in prison. The Rappahannock Times reports a jury trial was avoided when 30-year-old Chawn Douglas Beale entered guilty pleas to three drug distribution charges in Essex County Circuit Court. The Chesapeake Bay Narcotics Task Force utilized a confidential informant to purchase over $1,400 worth of cocaine from Beale on January 12 of this year.
On February 8, the same unit used a confidential informant to purchase cocaine and heroin from Beale.
Beale was apprehended following a pursuit that originated in the parking lot of Watts & Sons Supermarket in Millers Tavern on February 24.