Owning a gun, while insufferable to some, is still a constitutional right in America. There are many ways to acquire one. The worst way is to break into a police station and try to steal guns from cops.
But that’s exactly what Clarksburg residents Jonathan Carpenter, 25, Michelle McKinney, 29, John Lynch, 43, Denaul Dickerson, 26 and Kristopher Cox, 33, did at the Stonewood Police Department back in August.
According to local reports, 14 guns were stolen, including both duty weapons and weapons held as evidence.
“Some of the guns were actually sold for cash,” Bill Ihlenfeld, U.S. Attorney for West Virginia’s Northern District said. “Some of the guns were traded for controlled substances. Some of the guns were fronted with the idea that they would be compensated later.”
The police station at Stonewood apparently had “one officer who was off-duty at the time of the break-ins.”
A 32-count federal indictment was handed down in November as well as a multitude of state charges, for which the defendants entered a plea deal.
Cox and Carpenter both pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, while Dickerson, Lynch, and McKinney pled guilty to a charge of possession of firearms by an unlawful drug user or addict on Wednesday.
The gang of hapless arms dealers all face up to ten years in federal prison for their ill-advised raid.