Anger Counselor Packs Heat

(Fairfax County, Virginia) Last month, a 57-year-old anger management counselor, Jose L. Avila, was arrested for allegedly pulling his SUV next to two Deputy U.S. Marshals and pointing a handgun at them.

Avila's lawyer, William Odio, said that his client vigorously denies having a gun in his hands. Nonetheless, after the marshals chased down and arrested Avila, he had a loaded 9mm pistol in his car.

In a detention hearing this week, U.S. Magistrate Judge T. Rawles Jones Jr. ordered Avila held without bond despite assertions from Mr. Odio that Mr. Avila, a former Catholic priest with three college degrees, is a good guy without a criminal record. Judge Jones ruled that Avila is both a flight risk and a danger to the community.

Odio said he was disappointed by the ruling, but said he was preparing for Avila to be indicted and for an upcoming trial. He acknowledged Avila had his gun in his SUV, for which he had a concealed weapons permit because of possible anger from the people he counsels, but said he never pointed it at the marshals.

So, it boils down to he-said-they-said. Who do you believe, two U.S. Marshals or an anger management counselor packing heat.