McDonald Sentencing on EDA ‘Financial Scandal’ Convictions Delayed

According to court records, on February 1, Western District of Virginia Federal Court Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon granted a defense motion filed the previous day for a continuance of the February 12th sentencing date of former Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority Executive Director Jennifer McDonald. A new sentencing date has not yet been set as variables at play in the reasons for the continuance have yet to be finalized. However, it was noted in both the defense motion and in the judge’s granting of the continuance that the federal prosecutor “does not object to a short continuance.”

A Feb. 12 trip to the federal courthouse in Harrisonburg has been delayed in the wake of a continuance being granted by the court in the sentencing of Jennifer McDonald on convictions for her role in the FR-WC EDA ‘financial scandal’. Royal Examiner File & Courtesy Photos

Two primary factors were at play in the motion filed by federal court-appointed defense attorneys Andrea Harris and Abigail Thibeault. Those are, first, the relatively late filing of an initial Pre-Sentence Report (PSR) on January 18, an amended version of which was filed January 25 in the wake of Judge Dillon’s granting a defense motion for judgment of acquittal on four of the 34 counts McDonald was found guilty of by a federal court jury on November 1, 2023. As previously reported the judge also denied a defense motion for a new trial on the other convictions at the time.

In its filing for the sentencing continuance the defense team notes that PSRs are to “be provided to the parties at least 35 days before sentencing unless the defendant waives this minimum period.” Referencing the earlier designation of the McDonald case as complex due to the amount of evidence, cited at over a million pages of documentation, and that complexity’s impact on the Pre-Sentence Report, defense counsel wrote that their client “cannot waive this minimum period.”

The most interesting factor, however, was the defense team’s acknowledgement of medical tests McDonald continues to have in the wake of health issues that contributed to multiple delays in what was already forecast to be a lengthy, perhaps six-week trial last year. It might be noted that the trial which began on August 21, went to the jury late in the day October 31, with deliberations beginning the next morning and the verdict coming in early afternoon the following day, November 1, nine-plus weeks after the trial’s start.

On the topic of McDonald’s health situation in its motion for the sentencing continuance the defense team wrote: “Additionally, as the Court is aware and as the PSR documents, Ms. McDonald has suffered a number of serious health problems in the recent past. Ms. McDonald has an upcoming appointment with a neurologist concerning these issues. In addition, undersigned counsel has contracted with an expert for further medical testing, the results of which may be relevant both to the Court in determining an appropriate sentence but also to the Bureau of Prisons in making designation and rehabilitation needs determinations. The expert cannot complete its analysis before the currently scheduled sentencing date.”

July 2019 photo following McDonald’s second arrest on criminal charges related to the local EDA ‘financial scandal’. A presentation of evidence and arguments prior to a court decision on her sentencing on 30 related convictions is on hold to a yet-to-be-determined date.

For these reasons, and with the prosecution’s lack of opposition to what is described as an anticipated “short continuance”, as noted above Judge Dillon granted the defense motion to delay the McDonald sentencing until these multiple factors that could impact the length and terms of that sentencing are determined.