Culpeper, VIRGINIA

Outrageous sentencing.

ARRESTED: June 19, 2007 -
Frank "Chip" Rea, 30, Culpeper County High School physical education teacher and football coach, was arrested on charges of manufacturing, selling or possessing drugs, distributing marijuana and possession of a firearm. No other details available.

June 20 - NBC 29 reports that Rea faces possession of marijuana charges with the intent to distribute and possession of a firearm while in possession of cocaine. And that, "A school spokesperson would not give specifics but did say in cases like these the employee is put on leave for at least the length of the trial."

ADDITIONAL CHARGES July 26 - Rea was booked on two assault and battery charges on June 28 for assault on two different victims alleged to have occured one assault allegedly in May, while the other allegedly occurred on June 11.

ANOTHER ARREST: July 31 - Police arrested Rea on his seventh charge since June. He was arrested at his home on charges of misdemeanor domestic assault and failure to abide by the terms and conditions of his release.

He is scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 9 on the drug and assault and battery charges. He is scheduled to appear on the new charges Sept. 20.

PLEA and SENTENCING: August 14, 2007 - Rea entered a guilty plea on two counts of assault and battery, stemming from incidents against two different females that occurred May 17 and June 11. A third assault-and-battery charge involving a 21-year old female on July 28 was dropped.

He was given a 12-month suspended sentence, and will be placed on six months of supervised probation, followed by six months of unsupervised probation.

The charge of possessing cocaine with the intent to distribute was changed to simple possession of cocaine, and the felony charge of possession of a firearm while in possession of a controlled substance was be dropped.

On Sept. 24, Rea is likely to be indicted by a Fauquier County Circuit Court grand jury on the two remaining felony charges of possessing marijuana with the intent to distribute, and possession of cocaine. Prior to Culpeper, Rea worked at Liberty High School from 2002 through 2005 as a special-education teacher and freshman football coach.

ODD NOTE: After Thursday's hearing, Rea was released on bond and allowed to return home to West Virginia, but must remain under the supervision of a parent at all times.

INDICTED: Rea was indicted by a grand jury on two drug charges - one count of marijuana possession with the intent to distribute and one count of cocaine possession. His next court appearance is Oct 22.

GUILTY PLEA Oct 23 - Rea pleaded guilty to cocaine possession and marijuana possession with the intent to distribute.

In the past two weeks, Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Amy Harper said, Rea has been making threats against her and detectives of the Fauquier County Sheriff’s Office.

Fauquier County Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey W. Parker told Rea that if he makes any more threats against detectives or officials of the commonwealth, he would revoke his bond.

He will be sentenced Jan 24.

Nov 11 - Rea submitted his resignation last month after his guilty plea.

Through a Freedom of Information Act request, the Star-Exponent learned that Culpeper County Public Schools began depositing Rea’s monthly salary into an interest-bearing escrow account in October, pending the outcome of his trial.

Because he has pleaded guilty, that money will now return to the School Board, according to state code.

According to the Virginia code, any state employee charged with a drug-related crime must be immediately placed on suspension awaiting the legal outcome. If “such conviction is upheld,” the code reads, “all funds in the escrow account shall be repaid to the school board.”

Rea is serving six months of supervised probation on separate assault charges against two women for incidents that happened this summer. After that, he faces six more months of unsupervised probation.

ARRESTED FOR PAROLE VIOLATION Jan 16, 2008 - Rea has been arrested for violating the terms of his bond. Commonwealth’s Attorney Amy Harper declined to comment on the specifics of the violation, stating during a phone interview that she’d “discuss those details in court.”

SENTENCED - For the marijuana charge, Rea was sentenced to three months - five years in prison with four years and nine months suspended . On the cocaine charge, Rea received 100 hours of community service. Deputy commonwealth’s attorney Amy Harper said Rea got this deal because it was a first offense and possession only.

Rea will return to court Jan. 13, 2009, for an assessment of his behavior regarding the cocaine charge. If Rea successfully completes his year of probation, the court may dismiss the cocaine charge against him.