Former Acting Director of Lynchburg Community Corrections and Pretrial Services Indicted for Conspiring with Supervisee

Press Release

Jennifer Peters and Brandon Webber Were Romantically Involved During the Conspiracy

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - A federal grand jury returned a nine-count indictment yesterday charging the former Acting Director of Lynchburg Community Corrections and Pretrial Services and one of the men she was supervising with conspiring to illegally access protected information in order to aid further criminal activity.

In an indictment returned yesterday, Jennifer Leigh Peters, 42, of Madison Heights, Virginia is charged with conspiracy against the United States, accessing a protected computer without authorization, obstruction of a proceeding before a United States Agency, destruction of evidence, and making false representations to an agency of the United States.

Also charged is Brendon Cole Webber, 27, of Lynchburg, Virginia. Webber is charged with two counts of conspiracy against the United States and four counts of accessing a protected computer without authorization.

According to court documents, Peters was employed by the Lynchburg Community Corrections and Pretrial Services (LCCPS) since 2007. LCCPS supervised probation for pretrial criminal defendants and certain post-conviction defendants charged in Lynchburg General District Court. In 2023, Peters assumed the role of Acting Director of LCCPS, the most senior role in the office.

Beginning in 2022, Webber was on probation and, at times, was directly supervised by Peters. Sometime in 2023, while on probation and supersized by LCCPS, Peters and Webber began a romantic relationship. Peters did not report the relationship to her employer.

According to the indictment, around November 2023, Webber used Peter's access to the Lynchburg Police Department's Records Management System (RMS) to run searches and review non-public, law enforcement material related to himself and his associates. This information was gathered by Webber and distributed to others.

In addition, Peters made certain entries into Webber's official probation case file indicating that Webber had completed certain probation milestones, and instructed a subordinate to sign a letter that was sent to the Lynchburg General District Court terminating Webber's probation.

On November 29, 2023, members of the Lynchburg Fire Department responded to an overdose at the Lynchburg Grand Hotel. First responders observed a man -- later identified as Weber -- lying face down on a hotel room bathroom. Firefighters observed needles and a glass pipe in the room. When Lynchburg Police arrived, Webber fled the scene, running from officers before being apprehended outside of the hotel. Later in the evening, officers searched the hotel room and recovered a bag containing suspected methamphetamine and a loaded Glock 38 handgun. Webber was subsequently charged with a state firearm offense.

Following the hotel incident, Peters made several false statements to a U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force seeking to apprehend Webber. Peters then assisted Webber in fleeing Lynchburg by driving him out of state.

When questioned about the incident, Peters made several false statements to law enforcement regarding her relationship to Webber and her knowledge of his whereabouts.

United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh of the Western District of Virginia and Stanley M. Meador, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Richmond Division made the announcement.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation led the investigation, with assistance from the Virginia State Police and the City of Lynchburg Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Vito Iaia is prosecuting the case.

A criminal indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Updated November 21, 2024