The former acting director of Lynchburg Community Corrections & Pretrial Services Department (LCCPS), Jennifer Peters, has been sentenced to 12 months and one day in federal prison. Peters, 43, from Madison Heights, Virginia, pleaded guilty to charges including conspiracy, obstruction of a proceeding before a United States Agency, making false representations, and destruction of evidence.
Court documents state that in 2022 Peters supervised probationer Brendon Cole Webber while working at LCCPS. In 2023, after becoming Acting Director of the agency, she began a romantic relationship with Webber. During her tenure, Peters had access to confidential law enforcement materials through the Lynchburg Police Department’s Records Management System (RMS).
Between November 11, 2023 and January 9, 2024, Peters and Webber conspired for Webber to access non-public information in the RMS without authorization. Peters provided him with this information and Webber then shared it with others.
On November 30, 2023, Webber was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm under Virginia law and a warrant was issued for his arrest. Both were aware of the active warrant and an ongoing U.S. Marshal’s fugitive manhunt.
Around December 19, 2023, following instructions from Webber, Peters drove him from Lynchburg to Hughestown, Pennsylvania to evade law enforcement efforts. She also booked a hotel room during the trip as directed by Webber.
When questioned by federal agents about her relationship with Webber and his whereabouts, Peters gave false statements. She claimed not to have had contact with him since December and denied knowledge of his location or phone number. She also misled investigators about the location of her own cell phone; she had given it to a friend to hide it from authorities. After being interviewed by federal agents, she retrieved her cell phone and disposed of it in a landfill to destroy evidence.
Webber was arrested on January 9, 2024 in Hughestown. He previously pleaded guilty to state charges including conspiracy to commit computer fraud and conspiracy to obstruct justice as well as unlawful possession of a firearm. He received a sentence of 57 months in prison.
“Robert N. Tracci, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia, and Ian Kauffman, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Division made the announcement.”
The case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and City of Lynchburg Police Department.
“Assistant U.S. Attorney Vito Iaia is prosecuting the case.”
