VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - A local man will spend several years in prison after two incidents at Virginia Beach Correctional Center last year in which he attacked Virginia Beach Sheriff's Office deputies, including one that caused a deputy to receive 18 stitches on his head.
Cori Jermaine Fields, Jr., 23, pleaded guilty to assault and battery of a law enforcement officer and malicious wounding of a law enforcement officer at a hearing Monday in Virginia Beach Circuit Court.
A spokeswoman for the Virginia Beach Commonwealth's Attorney's Office told News 3 the total sentence is 10 years with 6 years and 6 months suspended, leaving 3 years and 6 months to serve.
The suspended sentence is conditioned upon Fields' good behavior both during his sentence and eight years after the period of incarceration. The Commonwealth's Attorney's Office noted the sentence was one year above the mandatory time for the two felony counts.
The charges stemmed from two separate incidents in March and July 2021.
According to a signed stipulation of facts filed in Virginia Beach Circuit Court, on March 17, 2021, a Virginia Beach Sheriff's Office deputy was conducting rounds in the cell block of the Virginia Beach Correctional Center where Fields was being housed. As the deputy approached Fields' cell, Fields reached through the feed slot and threw fecal matter on the deputy, hitting him on the face and all over his uniform.
Officials say the second offense occurred on July 15, 2021, when Fields, still an inmate at the Virginia Beach Correctional Center, hit a VBSO deputy in the head with a cane. The force of the strike was so hard it broke the cane into two pieces, and the deputy received 18 stitches to his head.
After the attack, Fields stated he was upset because he had not received an apple.
Fields remains behind bars at the Virginia Beach Correctional Center, and he's also scheduled for a probation violation hearing at Chesapeake Circuit Court in September.
