Lynchburg Man Pleads Guilty To Federal Firearms & Conspiracy Charges

Friday, June 6, 2025, 8:45 A.M. ET. 3 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

LYNCHBURG, VA.- Late last month, a 28-year-old Lynchburg, Virginia, man learned he could be facing up to 25 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to federal firearms and accessing protected computer systems.

     According to Acting U.S. Attorney Zachary T. Lee, on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, Brendon Cole Webber, 28, of Lynchburg, Virginia, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia and pleaded guilty to Being a Prohibited Person in Possession of a Firearm, Convicted Felon; and two counts of Conspiracy Against the United States.

According To The Federal Court Documents

     According to the charging documents filed with the District Court, beginning in 2022, Webber was under the supervision of the Lynchburg Community Corrections & Pretrial Services Department. In 2023, Jennifer Leigh Peters assumed the role of Acting Director of the Lynchburg Community Corrections & Pretrial Services Department. 

     Starting around August 2023, Webber and Peters began a romantic relationship, and Peters directly or indirectly supervised Webber’s probation supervision. Peters, because of her role as Acting Director of the Probation Department, had access to certain non-public law enforcement files, including the Lynchburg Police Department’s Records Management System. The Records Management System is a protected computer system that stores confidential, non-public law enforcement material.

     Between November 11, 2023, and January 9, 2023, Webber and Peters conspired with each other to allow Webber to access the Records Management System without authorization. Specifically, Peters gave Webber access to public police records so that Webber could provide them to others.

     On November 30, 2023, Webber was charged with unlawfully possessing a firearm in violation of Virginia State Law, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. Webber and Peters knew there was an active warrant for Webber’s arrest and were further aware that a U.S. Marshals fugitive manhunt was underway for Webber’s apprehension.

     Around December 19, 2023, at Webber’s request, Peters drove Webber from Lynchburg, Virginia, to Hughestown, Pennsylvania, with the hopes of evading capture by the U.S. Marshals Sevice. Webber further asked Peters to book a hotel room during the drive. Webber was subsequently arrested in Hughestown, Pennsylvania, on January 9, 2024.

     Webber previously pleaded guilty to Virginia State charges of conspiracy to commit computer fraud, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and unlawful possessing a firearm.

According To The Initial State Court Documents

     According to the court documents filed in that case, Police Officers were flagged down by a citizen on Fifth Street in the City of Lynchburg after the citizen reported seeing a man fall out of a moving vehicle and then shoot a handgun in the direction of the vehicle he fell out of. The citizen then informed the Police Officers that the man, later identified as Webber, had run toward the Family Dollar store on Federal Street in Lynchburg.

     Two other individuals driving past the incident witnessed Webber fall out of the vehicle. Webber asked the individuals for a ride and attempted to enter their vehicle as Police Officers arrived on the scene. Police Officers searched the vehicle and found a loaded 9mm handgun, a white bag containing methamphetamine, and a wallet belonging to an unidentified individual in the back seat where Webber had been sitting.