POWHATAN COUNTY, Va. -- The man wanted by the Powhatan Sheriff's Office, which caused a 'shelter in place' order across the county, has an extensive criminal history with more than two dozen charges, according to court records.
Powhatan authorities said Chazz Gordon is currently wanted for numerous alleged crimes including malicious wounding, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and brandishing a firearm. Specific details of those incidents have not been released.
Prior to that, Gordon was found guilty of six felonies connected to what police called a road rage shooting in Chesterfield County.
In November 2019, investigators said Gordon shot into a tractor-trailer on Chippenham Parkway, injuring the driver.
While discretionary sentencing guidelines recommended Gordon serve between eight and nine and half years in prison for the crimes, Judge David Johnson imposed 38 years with 35 suspended.
Essentially, Gordon received three years. One of his charges, using a firearm to commit a felony, carried a three-year mandatory minimum.
CBS 6 legal analyst Todd Stone said judges will usually stay in line with guidelines but sometimes stray from them depending on the particulars of a case.
"The guidelines are just a recommendation. They're advisory, they're not mandatory, and judges will often go above them or below them if they believe that they don't adequately take into consideration the factors in the case," Stone said.
Even before the shooting sentencing, which occurred in October 2020, Gordon had been convicted of five gun crimes, and court records showed that as of 2016, he was considered a violent felon.
However, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Judge Johnson considered his criminal history to be "somewhat dated" and the shooting seemed "somewhat out of character" for Gordon.
Court records showed the judge considered dozens of character statements submitted by his friends and family describing him as a "gentle," "kind," and "generous" "good man."
CBS 6 reached out to Gordon's defense attorney and has not yet heard back.
"No judge is clairvoyant, and nobody can really give an assurance as to what someone's going to do in the future, but that suspended time hanging over their head is supposed to be there to try to keep them in line," Stone said.
A week after the sentencing, prosecutor Joshua Loren submitted a motion asking for a re-sentence, court records showed.
Loren asked the judge to impose an additional five years behind bars, which he said was a mandatory minimum on one of Gordon's other charges: violent felon in possession of a firearm. Johnson's sentencing order showed he suspended the imposition of the mandatory sentence on that charge.
"So the Commonwealth thought that the judge should have sentenced him on that offense," Stone said.
Records did not show how Judge Johnson responded to the motion, and the Commonwealth Attorney's Office said it did not have a record of the file.
However, Department of Corrections officials confirmed Gordon was released from prison in April 2023.
Stone said the suspended years meant that if Gordon got in trouble again, they could be brought back into play.
"Now that there's that suspended time, if he were to be convicted of something else, then that would trigger that suspended time and he could be facing that time in addition to whatever he's facing on the new offense," Stone said.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
