1125 Chapline Street, Federal Building, Suite 3000 ● Wheeling, WV 26003
(304) 234-0100 ● Contact: Fawn E. Thomas, Public Affairs Specialist

February 3, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Defendant Indicted on Firearms Charge

WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA — A 34 year old defendant was named in an Indictment returned on February 2, 2010, by a Federal Grand Jury sitting in Wheeling, West Virginia.

Acting United States Attorney Betsy C. Jividen announced that ENNIS CHARLES PAYNE was named in a one-count Indictment charging PAYNE, who was previously convicted of malicious wounding and grand larceny in the Circuit Court of Harrison County, with unlawfully possessing a firearm on December 4, 2009, in Clarksburg.

If convicted, PAYNE faces a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000.

The case will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Zelda E. Wesley. The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives.

It should be noted that the charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations and not evidence of guilt, and that each defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.