CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A Sissonville man was sentenced today to five years in federal prison for a gun charge, announced United States Attorney Carol Casto. Jeffrey Phelix, 32, previously pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Phelix admitted that on Oct. 25, 2016, he broke into a garage at the residence of a licensed firearms dealer and stole seven rifles. One of the rifles Phelix stole had a suppressor attached, which functions as a silencer to reduce the noise from firing the gun and is illegal to possess without the registration required by the National Firearms Act. Phelix was arrested after his fingerprint was recovered from the window of the garage. Phelix was prohibited from possessing any firearm under federal law because of a 2011 felony conviction in Kanawha County Circuit Court for burglary by breaking and entering.
The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Charleston Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Haley Bunn is in charge of the prosecution. United States District Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr., imposed the sentence.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods. Project Safe Neighborhoods is a nationwide commitment to reduce gun crime in the United States by networking existing local programs targeting gun crime.
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
