Joseph Valentino Thomas, 37, of Dowell
Joseph Valentino Thomas, 37, of Dowell, is facing new charges in St. Mary’s County after authorities say he fled from a traffic stop in Leonardtown and was later linked to multiple bags of cocaine and crack cocaine found near where his vehicle had stopped.
Thomas is charged with possession with intent to distribute narcotics, possession of a controlled substance other than cannabis, failure to stop at a stop sign, driving on a suspended license and privilege, driving while suspended, driving without a required license and authorization, and attempting to elude police in an official police vehicle by failing to stop. He was ordered held without bond after his initial appearance on June 16, 2026. A bail review was held the next day, and he remained held without bond.
According to the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office, the incident began at about 2:58 p.m. on June 16, 2026, when Sgt. Potter was conducting traffic enforcement near Lawrence Avenue and Bartheleme Street in Leonardtown. Sgt. Potter reported seeing a black Chevrolet Trailblazer with South Carolina registration fail to stop at a stop sign. As the vehicle passed, Sgt. Potter said he immediately recognized the driver as Thomas and noted that he was familiar with him from “multiple previous CDS-related investigations.”
Sgt. Potter activated his emergency lights to stop the vehicle. The vehicle initially stopped near Lawrence Avenue and Fenwick Street in Leonardtown, but once Sgt. Potter got out of his patrol vehicle, Thomas allegedly drove away. Sgt. Potter caught up to the Chevrolet in a parking lot on Fenwick Street, where the vehicle stopped again, but the Chevrolet allegedly took off a second time. Sgt. Potter then activated his siren along with his emergency lights as the vehicle continued onto Pope Street.
The pursuit ended near Pope Street and Church Street in Leonardtown, where the vehicle stopped. Thomas got out of the vehicle and, according to the deputy’s account, “stated he fled because he does not have a valid license.”
After the stop, Sgt. Potter returned to the Fenwick Street parking lot where Thomas’ vehicle had briefly stopped. Authorities said multiple bags containing cocaine and crack cocaine were found in a parking space directly next to where Thomas had stopped the vehicle. A later search of the Chevrolet allegedly turned up a torn piece of plastic on the driver’s floorboard, which Sgt. Potter described as consistent with the discarded bags found in the parking lot.
The three bags allegedly contained 57 grams of cocaine, 2 grams of crack cocaine, and 4 grams of crack cocaine. A presumptive field test using a handheld narcotics analyzer returned a positive result for cocaine, which is listed as a Schedule II controlled substance. Sgt. Potter wrote that, based on his training and experience, the amount, weight, and packaging were sufficient to indicate that Thomas possessed the cocaine with intent to distribute it.
At his initial appearance, Thomas appeared without an attorney and waived an attorney for that hearing only. The judicial officer found he knowingly and voluntarily waived counsel for the initial appearance and ordered him held without bond, citing a reasonable likelihood that he posed a danger to the safety of another person or the community. A questionnaire completed as part of the initial appearance listed prior convictions, a prior failure to appear, and probation or parole status as “Yes.”
Thomas’ next preliminary hearing is currently scheduled for July 16, 2026, in St. Mary’s District Court. The case remains open, and the charges are allegations unless and until proven in court.
The new arrest comes after a previous St. Mary’s County cocaine case from 2020. In that earlier case, Thomas was charged after deputies said he was seen in a vehicle in the Clements area, ran from deputies, discarded a plastic bag containing cocaine, and was found with a large amount of U.S. currency. A search of the vehicle allegedly turned up another plastic bag of cocaine. The total weight in that case was listed as approximately 577 grams.
That 2020 case later moved to St. Mary’s County Circuit Court, where Thomas was accused of possession of cocaine, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, possession of 448 grams or more of cocaine, possession of 448 grams or more of a mixture containing cocaine, and conspiracy with Sherron T. Bush to possess cocaine with intent to distribute.
Thomas pleaded guilty on October 8, 2020, to possession with intent to distribute narcotics. He was sentenced to 15 years, but the important detail for readers is that the full 15 years was not active prison time. The sentence was 15 years with all but seven years suspended, followed by five years of supervised probation. In plain terms, he was ordered to serve seven years, while the remaining eight years were suspended and could come back into play if he violated probation or other conditions.
That sentencing structure helps explain why Thomas was not still serving the full 15-year sentence at the time of the 2026 arrest. The records provided do not include an exact release date, but the new arrest paperwork states that Thomas was “currently on parole” for the 2020 possession-with-intent-to-distribute conviction. That means he had been released from incarceration under supervision rather than remaining behind bars for the full 15-year sentence.
Thomas had also previously asked the court to revisit his sentence. In a handwritten filing, he wrote that he had been sentenced to “15 years all suspended except 7 years” and said he had been incarcerated since October 22, 2020. He wrote that programs had stopped because of COVID-19 but that he had “been reading and studying on breaking bad habits.” He also said he had remained infraction-free and had done volunteer work at Eastern Correctional Institution.
In a handwritten letter to the judge, Thomas wrote, “I would like to tell you a little bit about myself and who I am as a person.” He described having two children and family struggles earlier in life. He also wrote, “I know I was wrong and this was my first time in trouble with the law,” and later added, “I’ve really learned my lesson and ask for leniency in your decision making. God Bless.”
A judge later ordered that Thomas’ motion for reconsideration be held in abeyance. In April 2023, his attorney asked for a hearing on the request, writing, “Please accept this letter as request for hearing on the Defendant’s Motion for Reconsideration.” The attorney also wrote that Thomas had been incarcerated for nearly two years and had “a federal detainer which must be addressed prior to him obtaining his freedom,” adding that the detainer involved a probation violation.
The records also show Thomas had an earlier federal drug conviction before the 2020 St. Mary’s County case. A federal docket listed a prior cocaine-related conviction that resulted in a 72-month prison sentence and five years of supervised release, with the prison term later reduced to 58 months. A separate federal order confirmed the sentence reduction.
For readers asking why Thomas was in the community at the time of the new arrest, the answer is found in the sentencing and parole information: the 2020 sentence was not 15 years of active incarceration. He was given seven years to serve, with the balance suspended, and the current arrest paperwork says he was on parole for that prior conviction. Parole allows a person to serve part of a sentence under supervision outside jail or prison, subject to conditions. The new allegations may now carry consequences not only in the new case, but also for his parole status.
