Former teacher pleads guilty to purchasing a firearm for a known felon

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced that Jennifer Napier, 39, of East Bank, West Virginia pleaded guilty today in federal court in Charleston to straw purchasing a firearm for a person she knew to be a convicted felon.  In October of 2011, Napier purchased a firearm from the Trading Post, a federally licensed firearms dealer, in Marmet, West Virginia, and she filled out a Department of Justice form required for anyone who purchases a firearm from a federally licensed dealer.  On that form, Napier falsely stated that she was the transferee/buyer of the firearm, when she knew that the true transferee of the firearm was a different person who was prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms because he was a convicted felon.  As part of her plea agreement, Napier agreed to voluntarily surrender her permanent professional teaching certificate and not reapply to get her certificate back until her federal sentence, including any term of supervision, has expired. Napier faces up to five years’ imprisonment when she is sentenced on October 14, 2015.

This case was investigated by the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The case is 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.