Columbus felon pleads guilty to illegally possessing pistol

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced today that Randall Lee Walker Jr., 38, of Columbus, Ohio, entered a guilty plea to being a felon in possession of a firearm. Walker admitted that on June 2, 2014, he had a .45 caliber Glock pistol in his backpack at the Greyhound bus station in Charleston.

Officers with the Charleston Police Department responded that day to a 911 call reporting a suspicious person with a gun at the bus station. Walker was approached by the officers. He admitted that he had the pistol and turned it over to them. Walker had previously been convicted of burglary and felony possession of cocaine in South Carolina and thus was prohibited from possessing the gun.

Walker faces up to ten years' imprisonment when he is sentenced on October 15, 2015, by United States District Court Judge Thomas E. Johnston.

This case was investigated by the Charleston Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant United States Attorney Monica D. Coleman is in charge of the prosecution.