Three young Virginia men have just eight days left to decide on a plea offer that would allow two of them to walk away in 15 years with voluntary manslaughter convictions, but could send the third to prison for twice that length of time.
Court documents show that Phillip Swan, 20, and Terrell Wilson, 19, have been told by prosecutors that if they were to each plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the death of Glenn Scarborough, the government would agree to a sentencing range of 10 to 15 years. In addition, the government would not pursue any other charges against them related to the case.
Theodore Spencer, 21, has been offered a deal in exchange for pleading guilty to second-degree murder while armed and first-degree burglary. If he were to accept the plea, his sentence could range from 25 to 29 years.
The offers for all three men are wired, meaning that all must accept the plea offer in order for any offer to be valid. In the offer letters, prosecutors explained that “the role each defendant played in the crime” had been weighed.
Charging documents in the case and evidence presented at a preliminary hearing describe a brutal beating that ultimately killed the 62-year-old Scarborough.
MPD Homicide Detective Dwayne Corbett testified that all three men admitted to assaulting Scarborough twice— once on Friday, June 17 and again on June 18. In the June 18 attack, Corbett said, the men admitted to forcing their way into Scarborough’s Trinidad-area basement apartment, pushing him to the ground, kicking and punching him, stuffing a rag or paper towel into Scarborough’s mouth, choking him with a belt, and wrapping his head and feet in duct tape.
Corbett said Spencer believed Scarborough had sexually assaulted his mother, Sharon Spencer, and given her an STD, which hastened her death due to cancer. Swan and Wilson were friends of Spencer.
Spencer, Swan and Wilson are due in court Nov. 18, the day the offer expires.
Read the plea offers below.
