Charleston Man Sentenced to 46 Months for Federal Firearm Possession

A Charleston man was sentenced May 14, 2026, in federal court in Charleston, West Virginia, to 46 months in prison for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.

The defendant, identified in the Justice Department release as the Charleston man, pleaded guilty to the charge. The sentence includes three years of supervised release following imprisonment. The case was prosecuted in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.

The single defendant received the 46-month term after admitting to illegal firearm possession. Federal sentencing guidelines and the defendant's prior criminal history governed the penalty range applied by the court.

The sentencing concludes the federal prosecution for this defendant. It triggers immediate incarceration in the Bureau of Prisons system. Upon release, the three-year supervised release term begins, during which any new violation can return the defendant to custody. The conviction also permanently bars the defendant from future lawful firearm possession under federal law.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of West Virginia handled the prosecution as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods. That initiative directs federal, state, and local law enforcement to prioritize prosecution of violent offenders and felons in possession of firearms. The May 14 sentencing represents one completed case within the district's ongoing enforcement docket.

This marks the latest federal gun crime sentence issued in the Southern District of West Virginia under the initiative, which has produced repeated prosecutions of prohibited persons found with firearms. The original charge rested on 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), the federal statute that prohibits convicted felons from shipping, transporting, possessing, or receiving firearms or ammunition.