The special prosecutor appointed to investigate the handling of incoming attorney general Jay Jones’ 2022 speeding ticket has decided to close out the case.
Donald Caldwell, commonwealth’s attorney for Roanoke, was appointed by New Kent Circuit Court Judge Elliot Bondurant in October 2025 to investigate what was considered to be a “currently pending” reckless driving case.
New Kent Commonwealth’s Attorney Scott Renick had requested the appointment of a special prosecutor to the case.
Caldwell shared the final conclusions from his report in a three-page news release Monday, writing that the course of Jones’ case was lawful, and that records from his previous court dates do not specify the need for any further action.
Jones’ punishment and community service hours he submitted as part of his case raised eyebrows during his heated campaign for attorney general earlier this year.
Around 1 a.m. Jan. 21, 2022, Jones was charged with reckless driving after his 2014 Acura sedan was clocked traveling 116 mph in a 70 mph zone on Interstate 64 by a Virginia State police trooper. The trooper told Caldwell it was a routine and uneventful stop, and Jones was released after signing a summons for an initial court date in early February 2022, according to the release.
Jones was found guilty by New Kent General District Judge Stephanie Revere of reckless driving — a Class 1 misdemeanor that under Virginia law comes with a punishment of up to a year in prison and a fine of up to $2,500.
Commonly, people found guilty of a similar offense spend one to two nights in jail, are required to pay a fine and may have their licenses suspended.
Jones was fined $1,500 plus court costs Jan. 23, 2024.
In the release, Caldwell addressed service hours Jones submitted to the court as his case proceeded that generated “public scrutiny” during the campaign.
Letters from two organizations — one a political action committee that Jones himself founded — claimed that Jones had performed 1,000 service hours on their behalf. That comes to about 19 hours a week — about half the work time of a full-time job.
While initial reporting on the 2024 sentencing described the hours as part of an agreement with the New Kent commonwealth’s attorney’s office requiring community service in lieu of jail time, Caldwell concluded that he could find no official record documenting the requirement, nor any evidence of a plea deal. When asked, the New Kent prosecutor first assigned to Jones’ speeding case, Randy Del Rossi, told Caldwell he had “no independent recollection” of the case, Caldwell said.
Instead, the letters of service “were clearly presented by the defense to the court in an effort to mitigate punishment,” Caldwell wrote.
Since Jones was found guilty as charged, and punished within the law for that conviction, “I find no legal issue currently pending in this matter and there is no need for further action,” Caldwell wrote.
Jones’ attorney, Anthony Protogyrou, has maintained throughout the course of the case’s public scrutiny that its continued investigation is “much ado about nothing.”
He believes that a “routine matter in our courts” was “made political.”
Jones won a bruising race against Jason Miyares, the Republican incumbent, in November, and will be sworn into office next month.
Miyares and the Virginia attorney general’s office could not be reached for comment.
