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Press Release

Charleston felon pleads guilty to federal gun crime

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

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Charleston man pleaded guilty today to a federal gun crime, announced United States Attorney Carol Casto. William Cody McClung, 31, entered his guilty plea to illegally possessing a firearm after being convicted of a felony.

McClung admitted that on December 6, 2015, he shot at another man as he drove past him on Falcon Drive in Charleston. Officers subsequently executed a search warrant at McClung’s residence and located the 9mm handgun McClung had used to shoot at the victim, as well as three additional firearms. McClung was prohibited from possessing any firearm under federal law because of a 2007 felony conviction in Kanawha County Circuit Court for operating a clandestine drug laboratory.   

McClung faces up to 10 years in federal prison when he is sentenced on March 16, 2017.

The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Charleston Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Haley Bunn is in charge of the prosecution. The plea hearing was held before United States District Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods. Project Safe Neighborhoods is a nationwide commitment to reduce gun crime in the United States by networking existing local programs targeting gun crime.

Updated December 19, 2016

Topic
Project Safe Neighborhoods