NORFOLK, Va. — A man currently serving 25 years in prison for killing an Old Dominion University student in 2011 pleaded guilty to trying to smuggle drugs into jail last year.
Prosecutors said 30-year-old Rashad Dooley tried to have an accomplice mail the drugs to him last October. It happened after he was convicted of killing ODU student Christopher Cummings but was still waiting to be sentenced.
The incident happened on October 28, 2022, when a Norfolk deputy intercepted a package addressed to a different inmate who at the time was housed in the same jail section as Dooley. The package, labeled as "legal mail," supposedly came from Dooley's attorney but the return address did not match the law firm's Norfolk office. It was also stamped as coming from a Newport News post office.
The law office confirmed they had not sent any package and members of the Norfolk Sheriff's Office opened it to find multiple doses of buprenorphine — an opioid — taped to pieces of paper. Surveillance video from the Newport News post office showed the package being mailed by a woman known to Dooley. Prosecutors also said jail calls from the woman and Dooley showed the two discussing the package being sent with the wrong name on it.
On Monday, Dooley pleaded guilty to attempting or conspiring to deliver a controlled substance to a prisoner. He was sentenced to five years, which will run concurrently with his current 25-year sentence for Cummings' death.
As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors agreed to nolle prosequi charges against the woman who mailed the package. That means the charges were withdrawn, but could still be brought back at a future date.