Charleston Man Sentenced To Federal Prison For Gun Crime
Monday, October 28, 2024, 9:30 A.M. ET. 3 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
CHARLESTON, W.VA.- On Wednesday, October 23, 2024, Gregory D’Arguaes Zander, 35, of Charleston, West Virginia, appeared in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia and was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Joseph R. Goodwin to 108 months in federal prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release for his conviction of Being a Convicted Felon in Possession of a Firearm.
According To U.S. Attorney Thompson
According to U.S. Attorney Will Thompson and documents and statements made in court. Zander admitted in court to possessing six firearms discovered by Police Officers during a March 11, 2024, motor vehicle stop on two vehicles on Interstate 77 North near the Kanawha County-Jackson County line.
Zander was a passenger in one of the vehicles, and the other vehicle was a blue pickup truck. Police Officers found a rifle case in the pickup truck containing six firearms; a Smith & Wesson M&P 10mm M2.0 pistol, a Springfield Armory DS Prodigy 9mm handgun, a Smith & Wesson M&P 9 9mm pistol, a Kimber Rose Gold Ultra II .45-caliber ACP pistol, a Glock 17 Gen 9mm pistol, and a CMMG Mk4 5.78x28mm pistol.
Police Officers also found a wallet inside the blue pickup truck containing Zander’s state identification card and birth certificate and the receipts for the purchases of two of the firearms.
The receipts listed the driver of the pickup truck as the purchaser. The driver told investigators that he had purchased the firearms for Zander, who selected which firearms to buy and gave him the money for each purchase, and then transported the guns to one of the two adjacent apartments rented by Zander in Charleston, West Virginia.
The driver further admitted to investigators that shortly before the traffic stop, Zander directed him to load the rifle case containing the six firearms from one of the apartments into the blue pickup truck and paid him to drive the blue truck to Michigan.
Following the traffic stop, Police Officers and investigators obtained and executed a court-authorized search warrant and uncovered three additional firearms, ammunition, magazines, over 200 grams of fentanyl, and drug paraphernalia consistent with narcotics repackaging and distribution. Investigators also found packaging for four of the firearms found inside and seized in the blue pickup truck and receipts for those purchases.
Investigators Uncovered Zander Illegally Possessed 13 Firearms
During the investigation, law enforcement investigators determined that Zander had accompanied the driver during the purchases of the four firearms seized and wore one of the firearms on his ankle during the purchase. Investigators further determined that Zander had fired one of the firearms at an outdoor shooting range and purchased nearly $4,000 worth of firearm accessories around the time of the purchases and that Zander was responsible for at least thirteen illegally possessed firearms, based on facts uncovered in the investigation.
Zander knew at the time of these crimes he was prohibited from owning or possessing firearms and ammunition because of his prior felony conviction for possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, specifically methamphetamine, in Kanawha County Circuit Court on September 22, 2021.
