Federal jury finds Lincoln County man guilty of gun crime

CHARLESTON, WV (LOOTPRESS) – After two days of deliberations, a federal jury convicted 53-year-old Michael Allen Kenney of Hamlin of possession of a firearm.

Evidence at trial established that on May 17, 2023, Putnam County Sheriff's deputies responded to a 911 call at a video poker parlor in Poca and encountered Kenney. An officer saw Kenney reach into his waistband and remove a Ruger EC9 9mm pistol. Officers confiscated the firearm and arrested Kenney.

Federal law prohibits a person with a felony conviction from possessing a firearm or ammunition. Kenney knew he was prohibited from possessing a firearm due to his prior convictions, including convictions for possession of a stolen vehicle in Kanawha County Circuit Court on October 27, 2017, and that he was prohibited from possessing a firearm in Mason County Circuit Court on October 27, 2017 was banned August 5, 2014 and fled Putnam County Circuit Court with reckless indifference on February 11, 2014.

Kenney is scheduled to be sentenced on February 24, 2025. He faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.

“Today’s sentence holds a dangerous criminal accountable for his unlawful conduct,” said U.S. Attorney Will Thompson. “I commend the Putnam County Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) for their investigative work, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lesley C. Shamblin and Stephanie Taylor and our trial team for securing the guilty verdict in this case. “Case.”

U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers presided over the jury trial.