Zachary T. Lee Acting United States Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia
A Lynchburg man has entered a guilty plea in federal court for charges related to illegal firearm possession and conspiracy. Brendon Cole Webber, 28, was arrested in May 2024 after being found as a convicted felon unlawfully possessing a firearm. He pled guilty to one count of illegal possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon and two counts of conspiracy against the United States.
Court documents reveal that Webber was under supervision by the Lynchburg Community Corrections & Pretrial Services Department (LCCPS) starting in 2022. In 2023, Jennifer Leigh Peters became Acting Director of LCCPS and began a romantic relationship with Webber, whom she supervised. Peters had access to non-public law enforcement materials through the Lynchburg Police Department’s Records Management System (RMS).
Between November 11, 2023, and January 9, 2024, Webber and Peters conspired for Webber to access RMS information without authorization. Peters provided him access to confidential material on RMS, which he then disseminated.
On November 30, 2023, Webber faced charges for unlawful firearm possession under Virginia law, prompting an arrest warrant. Despite knowing about the warrant and an active U.S. Marshal’s fugitive manhunt for his apprehension, Webber instructed Peters to drive him from Lynchburg to Hughestown, Pennsylvania around December 19, 2023. During this trip intended to obstruct the U.S. Marshal’s mission, Peters booked a hotel room at Webber's direction. He was eventually arrested in Hughestown on January 9, 2024.
Webber had previously pled guilty to state charges including conspiracy to commit computer fraud and obstruction of justice along with unlawful firearm possession.
Law enforcement was alerted when a citizen reported seeing Webber fall out of a moving vehicle on Fifth Street in Lynchburg before shooting at it as it departed. Witnesses saw him attempt to enter another vehicle when police arrived on scene. A search revealed a loaded handgun and suspected methamphetamine where he had been sitting.
The announcement came from Acting United States Attorney Zachary T. Lee and Stanley M. Meador of the FBI’s Richmond Division. The Federal Bureau of Investigation alongside the City of Lynchburg Police Department are handling the investigation with Assistant U.S. Attorney Vito Iaia prosecuting.
