MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA - Jonathan Leigh Wienke, 46, of Martinsburg, West Virginia, was sentenced today to 18 months incarceration for unlawfully making firearms, Acting United States Attorney Betsy Steinfeld Jividen announced.
Wienke pled guilty to one count of “Making a Firearm in Violation of the National Firearms Act" in December 2016.
On June 9, 2016, the Department of Homeland Security obtained a warrant to search Wienke’s home in Martinsburg, West Virginia. During that search, officers found a pistol with an attachment that appeared to be a silencer. The pistol and silencer were seized by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Testing confirmed that the attachment was a silencer capable of diminishing the sound report of a portable firearm, and that the silencer met the definition of a “firearm" under federal law. The silencer did not have any manufacturer’s mark of identification or serial number, as required by the National Firearms Act. The investigating agent learned that Wienke had manufactured the silencer, but did not have the requisite license or approval to manufacture a silencer, as required by the National Firearms Act.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Anna Z. Krasinski prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated.
Chief U.S. District Judge Gina M. Groh presided.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
