Democratic candidate for Virginia attorney general Jay Jones drew condemnation last week after it emerged that he once joked about murdering a former state House speaker and his children.

This got worse after it was reported that Jones got an unusually light sentence after he was convicted of reckless driving. 

Jones paid a fine and did community service at his political action committee

According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Jones was pulled over by a state police officer on January 21, 2022 at around 12:55 a.m.

The newspaper cited court records which show that he was caught driving 116 miles per hour on a 70-mile-per-hour stretch of Interstate 64 in New Kent County.

While state law provides that reckless driving can be punished with up to a year behind bars, Jones paid a $1,500 fine and served 1,000 hours of community service.

Interestingly, 500 of the 1,000-hour total were spent working at Meet Our Moment, a political action committee which Jones founded.

Cardinal News pointed out that questions have been raised over the nature of Jones' community service, as there is no public information concerning what his activities were.

Other motorists have been punished more harshly for the same offence

What's more, Arlington's ABC 7 reported on Tuesday that it had reviewed more than a dozen reckless driving cases in which Virginia residents had been caught exceeding the speed limit by 46 miles and found that some defendants were treated far more harshly than Jones.

One New Kent County man was sentenced to 10 days in jail, fined $2,000 and had his license suspended for six months. What's more, he was limited to driving to and from work even after his license was returned.

🚨Others received jail time and suspended driver licenses for driving slower than Jay Jones. Jones is a former Virginia lawmaker and Democratic candidate for attorney general. https://t.co/vNqxBt36Rf

— Nick Minock (@NickMinock) October 8, 2025

Meanwhile, another New Kent County motorist was sentenced to 20 days in jail, a six-month license suspension, and a $1,250 fine.

Virginia governor says Jones "cannot be Virginia's top cop"

Jones' reckless driving conviction did not go unnoticed by Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who addressed it in a social media post.

"The job of attorney general is too important to leave to someone who would recklessly break the law and endanger the lives of others, and then mislead the Courts and the public by claiming he performed community service while working on his own political operation," Youngkin wrote.

"We need to get to the bottom of what Jay Jones was actually up to, but it’s clear he cannot be Virginia’s top cop," the governor added.