Anger-management counselor pleads guilty to assault on marshal

A Fairfax County anger-management counselor pleaded guilty Tuesday to assault on a federal officer for pointing a loaded firearm at a deputy U.S. marshal.

The incident occurred near the Annandale apartment of Jose L. Avila, 57, on Jan. 25. A federal marshal wrote in a court affidavit that he and another marshal had parked their sport-utility vehicles in designated parking places on Americana Drive, and that Avila pulled up behind them, honked his horn and was waved around them. But Avila allegedly drove past, turned around, drove back to them and aimed a loaded 9mm pistol at the two marshals, who were in plainclothes, the marshal wrote.

Avila, a single parent and former priest, worked for Northern Virginia Family Service and before that for the Center for Multicultural Human Services in Falls Church. He has been a licensed professional counselor and marriage and family therapist since the 1990s, and frequently received referrals from the Fairfax Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court for pretrial or probationary counseling, his lawyer said. He entered his plea before U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady, and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison at his sentencing June 25.

— Tom Jackman