Witness intimidation gets woman jail time

A Virginia woman was sentenced to a year and a day for witness intimidation, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced Tuesday. Joanne Elliott, 49, was seen making hand gestures, including a slashing motion on the side of her throat, directed at a witness who had just testified in the trial of her cousin Eddie Lee Walker in March 2011.

Walker was the lead defendant in a drug trafficking case involving 21 defendants that frequented an area in Chester, Delaware County known as "the cut-off."

Elliott, originally from Chester, traveled from Suffolk to attend the trial. She was arrested by U.S. Marshalls who witnessed the incidents and pleaded guilty in Sept.

Walker was convicted and sentenced to 40 years.