Beckley Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Gun Crime
BECKLEY, W.Va. – A Beckley man was sentenced to federal prison for illegally possessing a firearm, announced United States Attorney Mike Stuart. Turner Williams, 28, was sentenced to 30 months in prison, to be followed by a three year term of supervised release, for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Williams previously admitted that on January 9, 2018, agents with the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), with the assistance of a confidential informant, conducted a controlled purchase of firearms. During the controlled purchase, Williams admitted that he retrieved two guns from another location and returned to the site of the controlled purchase and delivered a Taurus, PT111, 9mm semi-automatic pistol to the confidential informant working with the ATF. At the sentencing hearing it was established that Williams was subject to an increased sentence due to one of the firearms containing a high capacity magazine which held 35 rounds of ammunition. He admitted that knew he was not supposed to possess any firearms because he was a convicted felon. Williams was prohibited from possessing any firearm under federal law because he was previously convicted in 2013 in Raleigh County Circuit Court of the felony offense of Wanton Endangerment with a Firearm.
The ATF, the Beckley Police Department, and the Beckley/Raleigh County Drug Task Force conducted the investigation. United States District Judge Irene C. Berger presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorney Timothy D. Boggess handled the prosecution.
This case is being 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.
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