Boone County Man Sentenced To 3 Years In Federal Prison For Illegal Firearm Possession

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin today announced that a Boone County man was sentenced to three years in federal prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm.  James Franklin Platt, 57, of Whitesville, Boone County, W.Va., previously pleaded guilty to charges contained in an indictment returned in October 2012. Platt admitted that on July 20, 2010, he possessed a .22 caliber revolver near Whitesville, W.Va. 

Platt was prohibited from possessing firearms because of a prior felony conviction in February 1992 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia for conspiracy to distribute marijuana and aiding and abetting the possession with intent to distribute marijuana.  Platt was also previously convicted in June 1999 in the Circuit Court of Boone County, West Virginia of conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance.   

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods. Project Safe Neighborhoods is a nationwide commitment to reduce gun crime in the United States by networking existing local programs targeting gun crime. 

The Boone County Sheriff’s Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Monica Coleman handled the prosecution.  The sentence was imposed by United States District Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr.