Upshur County and Barbour County women sentenced for their roles in a stolen firearms and methamphetamine operation

ELKINS, WEST VIRGINIA – Lisa Kay Knight, of Buckhannon, West Virginia, and Carla Denise Jones, of Volga, West Virginia, were sentenced today for their roles in a stolen firearms and meth distribution operation, United States Attorney Bill Powell announced.

Knight, age 25, was sentenced today to 15 months incarceration. Knight pled guilty to one count of “Conspiracy to Possess Stolen Firearms” in December 2017. Knight admitted to conspiring with others to steal, possess, barter and sell firearms for money and methamphetamines in Upshur County and elsewhere from October 2016 to September 2017. 

Jones, age 56, was sentenced to three years probation. Jones pled guilty to one count of “Unlawful Possession of Firearm” in March 2018. Jones, being a person prohibited from possessing a firearm, admitted to possessing two pistols, two rifles, and a shotgun in Barbour County in February 2017.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen D. Warner is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives, The Mountain Region Drug & Violent Crime Task Force, the Greater Harrison Drug &Violent Crime Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, the West Virginia State Police, Upshur County Sheriff’s Office, Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, the Buckhannon Police Department, and the Weston Police Department investigated. 
 
The investigation was funded in part by the federal Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Program (OCDETF). The OCDETF program supplies critical federal funding and coordination that allows federal and state agencies to work together to successfully identify, investigate, and prosecute major interstate and international drug trafficking organizations and other criminal enterprises.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that has been historically successful in bringing together all levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has made turning the tide of rising violent crime in America a top priority. In October 2017, as part of a series of actions to address this crime trend, Attorney General Sessions announced the reinvigoration of PSN and directed all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to develop a district crime reduction strategy that incorporates the lessons learned since PSN launched in 2001.

U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey presided.