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Press Release

Nicholas County Man Sentenced to Prison for Federal Gun Crime

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

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Nicholas County man was sentenced today to three years and five months in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Ralph Floyd Barnett, Jr., 61, of Birch River, possessed a .22 caliber handgun on August 17, 2019, and used the firearm to shoot multiple times at another man. Barnett admitted that he was prohibited from possessing a firearm as a result of his prior federal conviction for aiding and abetting in maintaining a drug-involved premises. Deputies with the Nicholas County Sheriff’s Department initially responded to Barnett’s residence in Birch River after he made a series of 911 calls in which he threatened to shoot somebody and threatened to assault certain Deputies in the Sheriff’s Department.

United States Attorney William S. Thompson made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the Nicholas County Sheriff’s Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

United States District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin imposed the sentence. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nowles Heinrich prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:21-cr-00066.

 

 

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Updated October 28, 2021

Topic
Firearms Offenses