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Press Release

Two Northern Panhandle men are sentenced for illegal possession of firearms

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of West Virginia

WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA – Jeffrey L. Sells, Jr., 26, of Moundsville, West Virginia, was sentenced to 41 months incarceration for unlawful possession of a firearm, Acting United States Attorney Betsy Steinfeld Jividen, announced.

Sells was found in possession of a .22 caliber pistol, three 9 mm pistols, two .22 caliber rifles, two 12-gauge shotguns, and a .223 caliber rifle in Marshall County on June 16, 2015. Sells pled guilty to one count of “Drug User and Addict in Possession of a Firearm” in September 2016.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen L. Vogrin prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Moundsville Police Department investigated. 

Additionally, Jerod Kernen, 32, of Weirton, West Virginia, was sentenced to 51 months incarceration for illegally possessing a firearm.

Kernen, who had previously been convicted of felony offenses in South Carolina, is prohibited from possessing a firearm. He admitted to possessing a .44 caliber revolver in Hancock County, West Virginia in August 2016. 

Kernen pled guilty to one count of “Felon in Possession of a Firearm” in December 2016.

Assistant U.S. Attorney David J. Perri prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Weirton Police Department, and the Steubenville Police Department investigated. 

U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey presided over both cases. 

Updated February 23, 2017

Topic
Firearms Offenses