POWHATAN COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — A prisoner at a Powhatan County correctional center is facing felony charges after allegedly soliciting another prisoner to murder two Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC) employees.
According to a June 17 press release from VADOC, 49-year-old Richard Joseph Bottoms was indicted on two counts of felony soliciting murder and four counts of violating a protective order by a Powhatan grand jury on Wednesday, June 5.
Bottoms, a prisoner at the State Farm Correctional Center, is accused of arranging to pay another unidentified prisoner to murder two VADOC employees. According to the release, these two employees were allegedly targeted due to their connection to an ongoing situation that began in June 2023.
At that time, Bottoms reportedly filed a Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) claim against an employee a the State Farm Correctional Center. According to the release, this claim was later proven false. Bottoms is said to have “continually harassed” the employee following the claim and, as a result, a Henrico County court granted the employee a protective order.
Despite the order preventing Bottoms from contacting the employee, he reportedly did so in November 2023 through third-party contact. According to the release, this resulted in a VADOC Victim Services Unit investigation. Bottoms and two others received institutional infractions at the conclusion of the investigation.
According to the release, Bottoms then arranged to pay another prisoner to murder both the employee involved in the PREA claim and the Victim Services Unit’s lead investigator.
“Thankfully, the two VADOC corrections team members were physically unharmed,” the release reads.
Bottoms’ trial date has not been set as of the time of reporting.
A spokesperson said in the release that VADOC will seek to prosecute Bottoms “to the fullest extent of the law.”
POWHATAN COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — A prisoner at a Powhatan County correctional center is facing felony charges after allegedly soliciting another prisoner to murder two Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC) employees.
According to a June 17 press release from VADOC, 49-year-old Richard Joseph Bottoms was indicted on two counts of felony soliciting murder and four counts of violating a protective order by a Powhatan grand jury on Wednesday, June 5.
Bottoms, a prisoner at the State Farm Correctional Center, is accused of arranging to pay another unidentified prisoner to murder two VADOC employees. According to the release, these two employees were allegedly targeted due to their connection to an ongoing situation that began in June 2023.
At that time, Bottoms reportedly filed a Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) claim against an employee a the State Farm Correctional Center. According to the release, this claim was later proven false. Bottoms is said to have “continually harassed” the employee following the claim and, as a result, a Henrico County court granted the employee a protective order.
Despite the order preventing Bottoms from contacting the employee, he reportedly did so in November 2023 through third-party contact. According to the release, this resulted in a VADOC Victim Services Unit investigation. Bottoms and two others received institutional infractions at the conclusion of the investigation.
According to the release, Bottoms then arranged to pay another prisoner to murder both the employee involved in the PREA claim and the Victim Services Unit’s lead investigator.
“Thankfully, the two VADOC corrections team members were physically unharmed,” the release reads.
Bottoms’ trial date has not been set as of the time of reporting.
A spokesperson said in the release that VADOC will seek to prosecute Bottoms “to the fullest extent of the law.”