Saint Albans Man Pleads Guilty To Federal Firearms Charge

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – A Saint Albans man who illegally possessed a firearm on July 2, 2014, pleaded guilty today to a federal firearms charge, announced U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin.  Keival Lewis Kelley, 30, pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. Kelley entered his guilty plea before Chief United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers in Huntington.

On July 2, 2014, the U.S. Marshals Service arrested Kelley at a residence in Huntington after Kelley was charged with distribution of heroin.  When Kelley was arrested, he was found to be in possession of a loaded,.25 caliber Taurus semiautomatic pistol.

Kelley had previously been convicted in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia in 2006 and 2011 on federal drug trafficking charges.  He was on federal supervised release at the time of his most recent arrest.

Kelley faces up to 10 years in federal prison when he is sentence on December 1, 2014.

The Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department STOP team and the U.S. Marshals Service conducted the investigation.  Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Hanks is in charge of the investigation.

The case is being prosecuted as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods. Project Safe Neighborhoods is a commitment of U.S. Attorney Goodwin’s office and other officials nationwide to reduce gun crime in the United States by networking existing local programs targeting gun crime.