ALEXANDRIA, VA — A Portland, Oregon, man has appealed his federal conviction following a July jury trial in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, though the offenses for which he was convicted remain under seal.
Joshua Nathan Lowe filed a notice of appeal on July 30 challenging the judgment of conviction and sentence entered July 16 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The notice, filed through attorneys with the Federal Public Defender's Office, does not identify the grounds for the appeal.
Alexandria court records identify Lowe's address as Portland, Oregon, and federal investigators said they identified him through an Oregon identification card recovered during the investigation.
Court records show Lowe was originally charged in May with theft of personal property within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States after investigators alleged he stole items from a vehicle at the Mark Center, a Department of Defense facility in Alexandria.
According to an affidavit filed in support of the federal criminal complaint, Pentagon Force Protection Agency investigators alleged that on May 7, a Mark Center employee discovered several items missing from a vehicle parked in the facility's North Parking Garage after finishing an overnight shift.
The missing property included a U.S. Department of Commerce identification card, an MC Dean employee identification card and unopened mail addressed to the victim.
Investigators reviewed surveillance footage that allegedly showed a man entering the vehicle, remaining inside for about 14 minutes and later pulling a nearby fire alarm before leaving the property. Later that day, the Alexandria Police Department notified federal investigators that officers had arrested a man in an unrelated burglary investigation who was allegedly carrying the victim's identification cards and unopened mail. The victim later identified the recovered property as belonging to him, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit alleged Lowe violated 18 U.S.C. § 661, which prohibits theft of personal property within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States.
The federal case later took an unusual turn.
The docket shows prosecutors filed a Superseding Information on July 13, and the original counts were dismissed. Lowe then proceeded to a jury trial on the superseding charging document.
As of Tuesday, however, the Superseding Information remained under seal. As a result, the public record does not identify the offenses on which Lowe was ultimately tried and convicted.
Court records show the jury found Lowe guilty on two counts on July 16. A magistrate judge sentenced him to time served, one year of supervised release with special conditions and a $25 special assessment on each count. The sentences run concurrently. Lowe filed his notice of appeal on July 30.
Lowe's legal proceedings are not limited to the federal appeal.
Separate criminal cases arising from the same May 7 incident remain pending in Alexandria General District Court. According to Virginia court records, Lowe is scheduled to appear for preliminary hearings on Aug. 26 on felony charges of entering a house with intent to commit assault and battery or another offense, as well as two felony counts of obtaining a credit card number through larceny. He also faces a misdemeanor charge of destruction of property valued at less than $1,000. Each of those cases has been continued multiple times since May.
Separate Alexandria Circuit Court records also show Lowe successfully appealed bond determinations related to those pending state cases in May.
The federal appeal will now be reviewed by a district judge in the Eastern District of Virginia.
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