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

April 6, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Eastern Panhandle Resident Indicted on Firearms Charges

WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA — A 25 year old Eastern Panhandle resident was named in an Indictment returned on April 5, 2011, by a Federal Grand Jury sitting in Wheeling, West Virginia.

United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced that DANIEL THOMAS HOFF-HAYLES was named in a two-count firearms Indictment. Count One of the Indictment alleges that HOFF-HAYLES, who was previously convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, unlawfully possessed firearms on February 22, 2010, in Berkeley County. Count Two of the Indictment alleges that HOFF-HAYLES knowingly possessed and stored a stolen firearm on February 22, 2010, in Berkeley County.

If convicted, HOFF-HAYLES faces a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000 on each count of the Indictment.

The case will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Erin K. Reisenweber. The case was investigated by the Eastern Panhandle Drug & Violent Crime Task Force and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The Task Force consists of officers from the West Virginia State Police - Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Martinsburg Police Department, the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department, and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department.

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.