Jailed Virginia state Del. Joe Morrissey is facing new criminal charges just one week after winning re-election and returning to the state Capitol with a chilly reception from his colleagues.
Morrissey faces four felony counts, including lying under oath and entering a forged document in court, according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday in Henrico County Circuit Court.
Henrico County police searched Morrissey’s law office on Jan. 12, the same day a grand jury decided to indict him and one day before the special election to fill Morrissey’s seat. Detectives were looking for allegedly fraudulent documents entered into court in December, when Morrissey was convicted on a misdemeanor count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
The lawmaker’s conviction stemmed from a sexual relationship he allegedly had with a teenage girl who once worked as his receptionist. Morrissey entered an Alford plea to the misdemeanor charge, meaning that he did not admit wrongdoing but did acknowledge that prosecutors had enough evidence to convict him.
Prosecutors said the allegedly fabricated document at the center of the indictment describes a child-support agreement between the parents of Morrissey’s former receptionist, according to the Washington Post. The newspaper reported that Morrissey’s lawyers argued the girl was taking legal advice from Morrissey and not engaging in a sexual relationship with him.
The former receptionist’s mother, Deidre Warren, was also indicted on three felony counts of forgery and perjury.
Morrissey told the Post on Wednesday that the latest allegations against him are false.
He told TPM last week in a phone interview that he’d met with the defense attorneys who represented him in court last year. But he was coy when asked what legal steps he would take next.
“What they’ve done is beyond shocking — listen, there’s gonna be consequences and we’re gonna follow this up,” he told TPM. “That’s all I can say right now.”
Morrissey had denounced the police raid on his law office as an effort to “disrupt” his re-election campaign. Following his December conviction, the former Democrat resigned his seat effective Jan. 13 and then pulled off a victory in that day’s special election as an independent.
House of Delegates Speaker William J. Howell (R) said in a statement Wednesday that the chamber would “evaluate these new indictments as it pertains to disciplinary action,” as quoted by the Post.
The lawmaker is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 9.
