Project Safe Neighborhoods: Charleston Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Firearm Offense

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Charleston man has pled guilty to a federal firearm offense, announced United States Attorney Mike Stuart. Frankie D. McNeal, 25, pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. 

McNeal admitted that on October 14, 2019, he went to The Empty Glass bar in Charleston with a Glock 19 9mm pistol. Investigation into the incident revealed that while at the bar, McNeal got into an altercation with a female patron. He then went outside and discharged a round from the Glock pistol through the windshield of the female’s car. Surveillance video, DNA evidence and ballistics linked McNeal and the firearm. Police responding to the incident located McNeal in a nearby alley and recovered the Glock pistol from a dumpster next to where McNeal was standing. McNeal was prohibited from possessing a firearm as a result of his September 2012 conviction of first degree robbery in Kanawha County Circuit Court.

McNeal faces up to 10 years in prison when sentenced on December 2, 2020.

The Charleston Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Kristin F. Scott is handling the prosecution. United States District Judge Irene C. Berger presided over the hearing.

This case was prosecuted as part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

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. 2:20-cr-00099.

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