Kanawha County Man Heading To Federal Prison On Federal Firearms Charge
Saturday, May 3, 2025, 7:00 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
CHARLESTON, W.VA.- On Wednesday, April 30, 2025, Eddie Wayne Chapman, Jr., 39, of St. Albans, West Virginia, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia and was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Joseph R. Goodwin to 70 months in federal prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release for his previously entered guilty plea.
Chapman previously appeared in Federal Court in Charleston, West Virginia, and pleaded guilty to one count of being a Prohibited Person in Possession of a Firearm; and Violating the Terms and Conditions of Supervised Release.
According To Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa G. Johnston
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa G. Johnston and charging documents filed with the District Court on July 18, 2024, during an encounter with members of the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office, Chapman possessed a backpack. During a subsequent court-authorized search of the backpack, Sheriff’s Deputies located and seized a loaded Smith & Wesson 9mm handgun and two ammunition magazines.
Chapman, during his earlier plea allocution, admitted to possessing the backpack that contained the handgun and further acknowledged that the backpack contained around 65 grams of a substance containing fentanyl.
Federal law prohibits a person with a prior felony conviction from owning or possessing firearms and ammunition. Chapman knew when he possessed the handgun on July 18, 2024, that he was a prohibited person due to his prior felony convictions for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia in October 2017, and conspiracy to operate a clandestine drug laboratory in Kanawha County Circut Court in September 2010.
At the time of the instant offense, Chapman was serving a term of supervised release due to his October 2017 convictions. Wednesday’s sentence includes 15 months in federal prison for committing a crime while on supervised release.
