A Norfolk man who raced his motorcycle at an eye-popping 132 miles per hour on Interstate 264 last summer will spend six days in jail following a plea agreement accepted this week.
Nasier Orlando Rodriguez, 21, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Norfolk Circuit Court to reckless driving. The sentence: six months behind bars, with all but six days suspended—provided he stays out of trouble for the next year.
The case goes back to July 5, 2024, when Virginia State Police clocked Rodriguez and another rider weaving through westbound traffic on I-264 near Military Highway. That stretch of road has a 55 mph speed limit. Rodriguez was pulled over and charged on the spot.
Initially, Rodriguez pleaded guilty in General District Court without a prosecutor present and was sentenced to eight days in jail. He appealed, and while waiting for his Circuit Court hearing, he completed 90 hours of community service, took a driver’s improvement class, and sold the motorcycle—reportedly because of a throttle issue.
This week, prosecutors got involved and hammered out the new deal. The final sentence: the same six months, but only six days to serve if he maintains “uniform good behavior” for 12 months. Circuit Court Judge Tasha D. Scott signed off on the plea.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi made a pointed statement afterward, calling the high speed “lethal.”
“At 132 miles per hour, a motorcycle is not a vehicle. It is a missile,” Fatehi said. “One false move by the rider or one unexpected move by another driver, and that kind of speed can kill.”
Fatehi also raised concerns about how these serious traffic cases are initially handled. Prosecutors, he said, often aren’t present in lower courts due to lack of funding.
“We accepted this case on appeal and fashioned a sentence that recognized Mr. Rodriguez’s efforts to rehabilitate himself,” he said, “but serious matters like this deserve to have funding so that a prosecutor can be there from the beginning.”
Rodriguez’s co-rider has not been publicly identified, and there’s no word yet on whether charges were filed in that case.