BECKLEY A Beckley man pleaded guilty to being a felon possessing a firearm.
On Thursdya, 37-year-old Thomas D. Manns, entered a guilty plea in federal court for the charge of a felon in possession of a firearm, according to the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District West Virginia.
According to court documents and statements made in court, back on May 26, 2020, police responded to a shots fired call at an apartment complex in Beckley. Manns was holding what they believed to be a firearm as he ran into a stairway. Officers searched the stairway and found a Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun in a trash can. Video footage from the apartment complex’s security cameras showed Manns holding the shotgun before he put it in the trash can. Moreover, Manns admitted to possessing the firearm.
Federal law prohibits a person with a prior felony conviction from possessing a firearm or ammunition. Manns knew he was prohibited from possessing a firearm because of his prior felony conviction for delivery of a controlled substance in Raleigh County Circuit Court back in 2006.
Manns is scheduled to be sentenced on October 6, 2023, and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.