Parkersburg Man Gets Probation In Straw Purchasing Gun Scheme
Saturday, May 3, 2025, 8:45 A.M. ET. 1 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
CHARLESTON, W.VA.- A 25-year-old Parkersburg, West Virginia, man escapes a federal prison term after being sentenced on Thursday to federal probation for making a false statement on a federal firearms transaction records form in a gun buying scheme.
On Thursday, May 1, 2025, Laiken Williams, 25, of Parkersburg, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia and was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Thomas E. Johnston to three years of federal probation for his previously entered guilty plea to Making a False Statement in Acquisition of a Firearm.
According To The U.S. Attorney’s Office
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa G. Johnston and charging documents filed with the District Court, on August 5, 2022, Williams purchased a Taurus 9mm handgun at a Parkersburg, West Virginia gun store.
During his previous plea hearing in Federal Court in Charleston, West Virginia, Williams admitted that he bought the firearm for another individual and falsely certified on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Federal Firearms Transaction Records Form 4473 that he was the purchaser of the firearm when he knew he was buying it for another person.
Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa G. Johnston commended the investigative work of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Parkersburg Violent Crime and Narcotics Task Force for the investigation, which led to the successful prosecution of Williams.
