HOPEWELL, Va. -- The member of Hopewell City Council sued by a mother who said he mishandled funds he raised for her grieving family has been indicted for allegedly misusing city funds.
Dominic Holloway Sr. is facing the criminal charges because he allegedly used a city credit card to cater food at a funeral, sources told WTVR CBS 6 reporter Maggi Marshall.
Holloway was arrested as he was leaving the courthouse after losing a civil case for mishandling thousands of dollars from Brionna Taylor. Her daughter, P'Aris Moore, was killed in December 2022 in a drive-by shooting while she riding a bike just days before her ninth birthday.
The court found Holloway did not give Taylor the $5,600 from a GoFundMe account he established to raise money for the her family.
Taylor said the outcome of the case did not come as a surprise.
“If the help wasn’t from the heart, he should’ve left my family alone," Taylor wrote. "He took money that was raised by the community and paid off his own obligations.”
Holloway, who was elected to Hopewell City Council's Ward 7 seat in November 2022, was indicted by a grand jury on charges of embezzlement of city funds.
Todd Stone, a legal analyst for WTVR CBS 6, said embezzlement cases can often be more straight forward to prosecute since prosecutors have evidence from bank records and card statements.
“They are a lot more cut and dry. You don’t have to depend on the testimony of a witness whose credibility may be an issue," Stone said. “The prosecutors are going to have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he knowingly used or misappropriated funds that belonged to the government for his own use.”
Stone said that while Holloway’s guilty verdict in the civil mishandling of funds case will not be a factor in the criminal trial, it could impact his sentencing if convicted.
“A judge typically looks a little more harshly upon someone who has been convicted of misusing funds that have been entrusted to him,” Stone said.
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Holloway could face up to 20 years behind bars and lose his position on city council if convicted.
Holloway, who did not respond for comment on either case, has appealed the civil case verdict and will appear in court for the criminal charges in November, according to court records.
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