MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — A Morgan County man has been sentenced in federal court after prosecutors alleged he illegally purchased weapons and sold those firearms to others.
Some of the firearms were recovered as part of criminal investigations in other states.
U.S. Attorney William Ihlenfeld tells the Panhandle News Network that Kenneth Carey Markley, 45, of Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, was sentenced this week to 30 months in federal prison for a firearms conspiracy.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Markley worked with others to illegally purchase and sell firearms in West Virginia and Maryland. Markley, who’s prohibited from having firearms because of a prior breaking and entering felony charge in Berkeley County, paid another defendant to purchase firearms on his behalf. He would then sell those firearms to others. Six of those firearms have been recovered in criminal investigations in New York, Maryland, and Kentucky, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office press release.
Markley is required to report for supervised release for three years with the U.S. Probation Office following his prison sentence.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara Omps-Botteicher prosecuted the case on behalf of the government.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated.
U.S. District Judge Gina M. Groh presided.