WAVY.com reported that Jamaro Lamont Fields, 37, of Portsmouth was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. The sentence followed an investigation in which authorities found a handgun and drugs, including fentanyl and cocaine. Fields had a 2013 conviction for sexually abusing a 6-year-old child, according to WAVY.com.
The reported investigation began April 23, 2025, when law enforcement conducted three controlled purchases of cocaine from Fields in Portsmouth. Police later searched his residence and vehicle, recovering 11 grams of fentanyl from his person and another 14 grams from his vehicle, as well as 12 grams of cocaine, a handgun, ammunition, digital scales and packaging materials.
Fentanyl’s Role in Local Overdose Deaths
Fentanyl was involved in over 90% of drug overdose deaths in Portsmouth between 2021 and 2024, according to a Portsmouth Health District analysis. The district notes that data for 2024 are preliminary.
A Firearm Ban Tied to a 2013 Child Sex Abuse Case
Fields had a criminal history. He was convicted in state court in 2013 of aggravated sexual battery against a 6-year-old victim and was convicted again in 2024 for failing to register as a sex offender, as reported by WAVY.com.
Aggravated sexual battery involving a child under 13 is a felony under Virginia law. An overview from Greenspun Shapiro Ginsberg & Yang PC explains the offense and its penalties.
Federal Firearm Possession
Fields’s case involved possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Another Hampton Roads Federal Sentence
Moses Elijah Williams received a 10-year federal prison sentence.
Fields was sentenced in a federal firearm case.
