Four Charged with Firearms Offenses

CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA - A federal grand jury has indicted four people on firearms charges.

Todd M. Houston, 35, of Morgantown, West Virginia, and Kayla N. Taylor, 33, of Montrose, West Virginia, are facing charges involving a conspiracy to straw purchase firearms in Monongalia County. Christopher S. Damson, 27, of Kernersville, North Carolina is charged with unlawful possession of ammunition. According to court documents, Taylor falsified documents to purchase firearms for Houston, who is prohibited from having firearms because of prior robbery and burglary convictions in the Circuit Court of Monongalia County. Damson and Houston were arrested while attempting to pawn boxes of ammunition. Damson is prohibited from having firearms because of a domestic violence protective order issued in Lee County, Florida.

In a separate case, Jonathon Wade Cochran, 42, of Shinnston, West Virginia, has been indicted for the unlawful possession of a firearm. According to the indictment, Cochran was found in Harrison County with a 9mm pistol. Cochran is prohibited from having firearms because of prior methamphetamine, burglary, and firearms convictions in Monongalia, Marion, and Harrison Counties.

Assistant U.S. Attorney William Rhee is prosecuting the cases on behalf of the government.

Investigative agencies include the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Harrison County Sheriff's Office.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce gun violence and other violent crime, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit Justice.gov/PSN.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and each defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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