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

 

 

September 2, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Wheeling Resident Sentenced on False Statement Charge

WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA — A 23 year old Wheeling, West Virginia, resident was sentenced on September 1, 2009, in United States District Court in Wheeling by Judge Frederick P. Stamp, Jr.

United States Attorney Sharon L. Potter announced that JOANNA M. WHIPKEY was sentenced to three years probation with the first six months to be served in home detention with electronic monitoring. WHIPKEY entered a plea of guilty on July 22, 2009, to one cont of an Indictment charging her with providing a false statement in connection with the acquisition of a firearm on July 26, 2007, in Wheeling, wherein she knowingly represented that she was the buyer of the firearm when she was actually acting as a straw purchaser on behalf of a prohibited purchaser. As part of her plea, WHIPKEY is to forfeit the .32 caliber pistol which she purchased.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Randolph J. Bernard. The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.