CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — A former commissioner of revenue for a Virginia county has pleaded guilty to attempted witness tampering, and his son pleaded guilty to a related charge of heroin distribution, prosecutors said.
Larry Vernon Snow, 73, pleaded guilty on Friday to a charge related to efforts to harass and dissuade a confidential informant from cooperating in a federal investigation of both himself and his son, and to prevent the confidential informant from aiding law enforcement in other investigations, said a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Bryant Austin Snow, 33, pleaded guilty to one related count of distributing heroin.
Court documents indicate Bryant Snow was arrested on two state drug charges in November 2017. Bryant Snow pleaded guilty in April 2018 to one count of distribution of methamphetamine in Greene County, Virginia.
While imprisoned, Bryant Snow received video and audio of the recorded narcotics buys by the confidential informant from him. He made multiple calls to his father, Larry Snow, to discuss one of the confidential informants.
After being notified in May 2019 that they were the targets of a federal investigation involving their conduct toward the informant, Larry Snow drafted approximately 12,000 leaflets to be mailed to residents of Greene County in an attempt to harass the informant from helping prosecutors, the news release said.
In connection with his guilty plea, Larry Snow resigned as commissioner of revenue in Greene County, a position he has held since 1987 and had been re-elected to while under federal indictment.
The Snows are scheduled for sentencing on July 25.