Duffield Man Sentenced for Manufacturing Marijuana, Felon in Possession of a Firearm

Abingdon, VIRGINIA – A federal judge yesterday sentenced a Duffield man, who was on supervised release for a previous federal conviction after serving a lengthy state prison sentence for arson, to a total of 14 years in federal prison for marijuana and illegal firearms charges, United States Attorney Thomas T. Cullen announced today.

Claude Gene Sloan, 76, pleaded guilty in August 2018 to one count of manufacturing and possessing with the intent to distribute more than 100 marijuana plants, one count of distribution of marijuana, and one count of being a previously convicted felon illegally in possession of a firearm.  In 2000, Sloan was convicted of manufacturing marijuana.  He was released from federal prison in 2014 and was on federal supervised release at the time of these offenses.

“As this case illustrates, we are committed to working with our federal, state, and local partners to target violent and recidivist offenders within specific communities and send them to federal prison,” U.S. Attorney Cullen said today.  “We are particularly grateful for the hard work of the Scott County Sheriff’s Office and the Southwest Drug Task Force in making their community safer.”

Evidence was presented at sentencing that Sloan began growing and selling marijuana within two years of his last release from prison.  In addition, an audio recording was introduced in which Sloan asked another person to burn down Sloan’s neighbor’s home.

United States District Court Judge James P. Jones imposed a sentence of imprisonment for a term of 12 years on the instant charges to be followed by an additional two-year term of imprisonment for Sloan’s violation of his terms of supervised release.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the Scott County Sheriff’s Office, Southwest Drug Task Force, Virginia State Police, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.  Assistant United States Attorney Randy Ramseyer prosecuted the case for the United States.