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Press Release

Charleston man 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 who illegally possessed a firearm pleaded guilty today to a federal gun crime, announced United States Attorney Carol Casto. Lachance D. Woodson, 28, entered his guilty plea to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Woodson admitted that on December 22, 2015, he possessed a Hi-Point .40 caliber pistol in Charleston. Woodson was prohibited from possessing any firearm under federal law because of a 2010 conviction in the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia for possession of a firearm after a misdemeanor conviction for domestic violence.

Woodson faces up to 10 years in federal prison when he is sentenced on November 17, 2016.

The Charleston Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Monica D. Coleman handled 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 working with existing local programs that target gun crime.

Updated August 23, 2016