BECKLEY, WV (WVNS) — A Raleigh County man was sentenced to more than four years in prison after he was found with a gun during a traffic stop.
James Pratt, age 31 of Beckley was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison, along with three years of supervised release for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
According to the US Department of Justice, Pratt was a passenger in a vehicle pulled over by Beckley law enforcement on February 25 of 2021. The officers found a Browning, model Hi-Power, 9mm pistol and $5,385 in the vehicle during the stop and Pratt admitted to possessing the firearm and the money. He also admitted having possessed the firearm during his drug trafficking activities, including four or five ounces of heroin and fentanyl that he distributed per day.
Federal law states that someone with a prior felony conviction cannot possess a firearm or ammunition. Pratt knew of this prohibition due to his prior felony of first-degree robbery on August 5, 2010, and child abuse on July 29, 2013.
US District Judge Frank W. Volk imposed the sentence, while US Attorneys Negar M. Kordestani and Andrew D. Isabell prosecuted the case.