Hampshire County man admits to failing to report for sentencing

MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – James Albert Slonaker, of Augusta, West Virginia, admitted today to failing to report to serve his federal sentence, United States Attorney Bill Powell announced.

Slonaker, age 49, was sentenced in January 2018 to 46 months incarceration for a firearms charge. He was to self-report to begin serving the sentence on February 21, 2018, but failed to surrender. 

Slonaker pled guilty to one count of “Unlawful Possession of Firearms” in September 2017. Slonaker, having previously been convicted in the Circuit Court of Frederick County, Virginia, admitted to having a .22 caliber revolver, a .357 magnum revolver, two .22 caliber rifles, a .30-06 caliber rifle, and a Rossi firearm frame/receiver. The crime occurred in January 2017 in Hampshire County. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lara K. Omps-Botteicher is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The United States Probation Office and the United States Marshal Service investigated. 

U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert W. Trumble presided.