FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Sept. 6, 2012
KANAWHA COUNTY MAN SENTENCED TO FEDERAL PRISON FOR ILLEGAL FIREARM POSSESSION
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin today announced that a Kanawha County man was sentenced to 1 ½ years in federal prison for possessing a firearm while being a user of and addicted to controlled substances. Rodney Preston Shaffer II, 36, of Sissonville, W.Va., previously pleaded guilty in December 2011. On March 29, 2011, law enforcement officers seized 23 firearms from a Sissonville home where the defendant was staying at the time. Shaffer admitted that the collection of firearms seized by police belonged to him and that several were given to him by a relative. Shaffer further admitted that at the time he possessed the firearms, he was a frequent user of both methamphetamine and various types of pain pills. The defendant also admitted that in September 2008, he possessed a Glock 9-millimeter pistol and was caught with the firearm by police. On two occasions between 2008 and 2011, the defendant was stopped by law enforcement and found to be in illegal possession of prescription painkillers.
This case was investigated by the Charleston Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Assistant United States Attorney Blaire Malkin handled the prosecution. The sentence was imposed by United States District Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr.
This case was prosecuted as part of an ongoing effort led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia to combat the illicit sale and misuse of prescription drugs. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, joined by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, is committed to aggressively pursuing and shutting down illegal pill trafficking, eliminating open air drug markets, and curtailing the spread of opiate painkillers in communities across the Southern District.
This case was also brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods. Project Safe Neighborhoods is a nationwide commitment to reduce gun crime in the United States by networking existing local programs targeting gun crime.
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