Beckley Man Sentenced For Federal Firearms Crime

Friday, September 12, 2025, 11:55 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

BECKLEY, W.VA.- On Thursday, a 34-year-old Beckley, West Virginia, man and convicted felon learned he will be spending nearly four years in federal prison, after being sentenced for a federal firearms offense.

     According to Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa G. Johnston, on Thursday, September 11, 2025, Ryan H. Guerrant, 34, of Beckley, West Virginia, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia and was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Frank W. Volk to 46 months in federal prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to being a Prohibited Person in Possession of a Firearm.

According To Charging Documents Filed With The Court

     According to the charging documents and statements made in the District Court, on November 26, 2023, Guerrant was found to be in possession of a Bursa 9mm handgun inside his Beckley, West Virginia, residence. The firearm was discovered in his home by members of the Beckley Police Department.

     Federal law prohibits a person from owning or possessing a firearm and ammunition. Guerrant knew that when he possessed the firearm on November 26, 2023, he was a prohibited person due to prior felony convictions, including convictions for first-degree robbery, conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery, and escape in Raleigh County Circuit Court in January of 2010, and for possession of a firearm by a p[prohibited carrier in Raleigh County Circuit Court in June of 2013, and and for being a prpohibited person in possession of a firearm in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia in October of 2017.

     Acting U.S. Attorney Johnston commended the investigative work of the Beckley Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, which led to the successful prosecution of Guerrant.