Exclusive video captures overnight surrender of indicted former Shoosmith owners

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. — Two former owners of the bankrupt Shoosmith landfill who were indicted last month and turned themselves in at the Chesterfield County Jail in the middle of the night are now asking a judge to change their bond conditions.

CBS 6 exclusively obtained video showing Fred Gerald Nichols and Paul Lawrence McGee standing outside the Chesterfield jail with a group of men before turning themselves in overnight on Oct. 7.

Court records previously obtained by CBS 6 show McGee's $25,000 unsecured bond was approved by a magistrate at 3:26 a.m. Nichols' $25,000 unsecured bond was approved nine minutes later, at 3:35 a.m.

The two men had been indicted by a grand jury on Sept. 21. Both live in Texas.

Each faces one Class 4 felony charge of unlawfully abandoning a waste facility and two misdemeanor charges of willfully violating Virginia's Water Control Act.

CBS 6 legal analyst Todd Stone said the decision to travel to Virginia and voluntarily surrender rather than risk arrest in Texas is not surprising.

Stone said an attorney would likely advise someone in their position to come to Virginia and turn themselves in. If they were arrested in Texas, Stone said they could spend time jailed there awaiting their return to Virginia.

He also said surrendering overnight can be a strategic but normal move because it can limit public attention and position a defendant to get before the court quickly the following morning.

Stone said he was also not surprised the two men received unsecured bonds.

Assuming they don't have significant criminal records, Stone said the charges are not the type for which he would ordinarily expect a defendant to remain jailed pending trial.

"The purpose of the bond is to ensure they come back to court, not to punish them," Stone told CBS 6.

Bond conditions now contested

The current bond conditions require Nichols and McGee to remain in Virginia while their criminal cases are pending.

CBS 6 reached out to attorneys representing both men for comment and learned from Nichols' attorney, Dale Mullen, that both defendants have filed motions seeking modifications to their bond conditions.

Nichols is asking the court for permission to return to his home in Texas and travel between Texas and Virginia for court proceedings.

According to his motion, the 83-year-old has a pacemaker, requires regular medical care and is responsible for an ill relative's day-to-day care. The filing also says Nichols has a farm and wildlife rescue animals in Texas that require ongoing attention and care.

A hearing on the bond issue is scheduled for Friday at 1 p.m.

CBS 6 is awaiting a response from McGee's attorney.

The men's next court date is scheduled for Nov. 16.

WATCH: Records: Landfill leaked waste into Swift Creek years before bankruptcy

Years of problems at Shoosmith led to charges

The criminal prosecution comes after months of CBS 6 investigations into the Shoosmith landfill and years of documented environmental problems.

After the landfill's owners filed for bankruptcy, a court-appointed trustee described conditions at the facility as "a potential environmental catastrophe."

Months before the indictments, Chesterfield County Supervisor Jim Ingle told CBS 6 he believed the landfill's owners should face prosecution.

"The people that caused the problem were the owners of the dump. They clearly in my opinion committed some acts that I believe they should be prosecuted for," Ingle said.

CBS 6 subsequently uncovered Virginia Department of Environmental Quality records showing environmental problems at Shoosmith years before the bankruptcy.

DEQ found landfill gas condensate discharging into Swift Creek in June 2021. State employees collected samples downstream and found elevated levels of BOD-5 and ammonia. DEQ also documented repeated leachate seeps at Shoosmith in November 2021 and again in June and July 2022.

Jamie Brunkow with the James River Association previously told CBS 6 the concerns reach beyond the boundaries of the landfill.

"We've got recreation public use here, we've got drinking water use in this part of the river," Brunkow said. "So yeah, it's really concerning how much leachate is getting into the water. We don't know."

Landfill expert Morton Barlaz, a professor at North Carolina State University who has researched solid waste for more than four decades, previously told CBS 6 those types of releases are highly problematic.

"At a well-run landfill, if they had a discharge to surface water, they would jump pretty high, pretty fast to fix it," Barlaz said.

An engineering group working for the bankruptcy trustee previously estimated closure, corrective action and post-closure care at Shoosmith could cost more than $172 million over 30 years.

In earlier court filings, lawyers for DEQ alleged Nichols and McGee pocketed millions of dollars instead of investing that money in necessary infrastructure and remediation at the landfill, including a pre-treatment plant for leachate.

Those allegations preceded the criminal indictments.

According to Stone, the Class 4 felony charge carries a potential sentence of two to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000. He said the two unclassified misdemeanor charges each carry the possibility of up to 12 months.

The criminal charges against Nichols and McGee are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Their immediate fight, however, is over their release conditions and whether they will be permitted to return home to Texas while the cases proceed.

This is a developing story, so check back with WTVR.com for updates. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have info, photos or videos to share.