McDonald Sentencing Reset for April 9 in Harrisonburg Federal Court

According to the Western District of Virginia Court website, former Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority Executive Director Jennifer McDonald’s sentencing date on 30 criminal convictions handed down by a jury on November 1, related to the estimated $26-million FR-WC EDA “financial scandal” has been re-scheduled for Tuesday, April 9, 2024, on the 9 a.m. docket.

McDonald’s originally scheduled sentencing on February 12 was continued at the request of her defense counsel, citing both the late receipt of a Pre-Sentencing Report (PSR) and medical testing their client was undergoing for physical problems that contributed to several delays in her trial that began August 21 and went to the jury on October 31 last year.

Jennifer McDonald will face her sentencing hearing in Harrisonburg’s Western District of Va. federal courthouse on April 9. Below is a file courtesy photo from one of the former EDA executive director’s initial criminal case bookings in the spring to summer of 2019. Following one of those arrests, McDonald was transported for medical care, which was believed to be related to elevated heart rate and blood pressure issues that appeared to recur during her trial last year.

As previously reported, the defense team of federal court-appointed attorneys Andrea Harris and Abigail Thibeault wrote in a continuance motion filed on January 31: “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.”

Noting that the prosecution did not object to a “short delay” based on the above circumstances, Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon granted the continuance to a then as-yet-to-be-determined date in a written ruling the following day, February 1.

Apparently, medical findings and analysis will be available as part of the defense’s presentation seeking leniency for their client in the court’s sentencing determination hearing on April 9. A history of the EDA “financial scandal” and its aftermath may be found on the Royal Examiner website in the NEWS category under “EDA in Focus.”

McDonald Sentencing on EDA ‘Financial Scandal’ Convictions Delayed