Parkersburg resident pleads guilty to gun charge

Feb. 3—charleston, w.va. — Shawn David White, 41, of Parkersburg, pleaded guilty Thursday to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

According to court records, law enforcement officers visited White's residence on Nov. 8, 2018, while investigating a firearm theft and found a Winchester Model 12, 12-gauge shotgun in White's bedroom.

White is prohibited from possessing a firearm because of his convictions for grand larceny and driving while his license was suspended or revoked for DUI-third offense in Wood County Circuit Court on Feb. 10, 2017.

White is scheduled to be sentenced on May 9 and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.

----charleston, w.va. — Ernest Lee Alexander III, 33, of St. Albans, pleaded guilty Thursday to bank fraud and possession of stolen mail matter.

According to court records, Alexander led law enforcement officers on a high-speed chase throughout western Kanawha County on Dec. 13, 2021, after they attempted a traffic stop of his vehicle in South Charleston.

The chase ended when Alexander exited Interstate 77 at Tuppers Creek, lost control of his vehicle and crashed.

Officers arrested Alexander and found stolen mail and a bank receipt in the vehicle. Alexander admitted that earlier that same day, he had used the identification information of the owner of the stolen mail to deposit a fraudulent check into the individual's bank account and then withdraw $450 from the account.

Alexander is scheduled to be sentenced on May 9 and faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release, and a $1 million fine.

----charleston, w.va. — Austin Joseph Griffith, 22, of Hernshaw, was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, for distributing 50 grams or more or methamphetamine.

According to court records, Griffith admitted that he sold approximately 560 grams of methamphetamine for $4,000 to a confidential informant at his Hernshaw residence on Dec. 13, 2021. Griffith sold quantities of fentanyl to a confidential informant at the same location on two separate occasions in March 2022. Following those transactions, officers executed a search warrant at Griffith's residence on March 25, 2022, and recovered additional quantities of methamphetamine and fentanyl.

----charleston, w.va. — Michael James Peters, 42, of Concord, N.C., was sentenced Thursday to one year in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for lying to the United States Department of Agriculture regarding the Nicholas County coal he pledged as collateral for a $9 million USDA-backed business loan. Peters must also pay $1,375,000 in restitution and a $25,000 fine.

According to court records, Peters was part owner, president, and operator of Taylor Rose Energy (TRE). On July 24, 2014, TRE obtained a $9,065,165 loan from a Georgia bank to buy out investors' interest in approximately 146,954 tons of cannel coal in Dixie, Nicholas County.

In support of the loan, TRE represented that it intended to convert the coal into "smokeless" coal briquettes for consumer coal-burning home heating systems in Ireland. The USDA Rural Development Business and Industry loan program guaranteed 90 percent of the loan.

By January 2015, Peters owed more than $1.3 million to the owner and operator of another coal company, Aces High Coal Sales Inc. of London, Ky. From February 2015 to April 2015, Peters allowed Aces High to remove more than 80,000 tons of the collateralized coal from the Dixie site to settle this debt. Peters was unable to repay the USDA-backed loan, and he did not inform the Georgia bank that coal pledged as the loan's collateral was being taken to address the debt to Aces High.

Peters told the Georgia bank that 90 percent of the coal was "missing" from the Dixie site. On May 8, 2015, representatives from the bank and the USDA visited the Dixie site to investigate the removal of the collateralized coal. Peters falsely told USDA and bank representatives that Aces High had removed the coal from the site without his permission. At the plea hearing, Peters admitted that he lied to the USDA representative during this site visit in order to redirect the focus of the investigation away from his own conduct.

Peters pleaded guilty to making a false statement to a representative of the United States Department of Agriculture.

----charleston, w.va. — Karen L. Hodges, also known as "Karen Igo," "Karen Clay," "Karen Richmond," and "Karen Gessel," 49, of St. Albans, pleaded guilty Thursday to three counts of securities fraud.

According to court records, Hodges admitted to having counterfeit checks created so they appeared to be payroll checks issued by Kroger. Between Oct. 20, 2018, and Dec. 19, 2018, Hodges presented and cashed three counterfeit payroll checks totaling $2,461.96 at Kroger locations within the Southern District of West Virginia. Hodges admitted that she has never worked for Kroger, and knew that she was deceiving them into giving her cash based on these counterfeit payroll checks.

Hodges further admitted to presenting and uttering numerous other counterfeit checks totaling $37,587.66 during the same time period at Kroger locations within the Southern District of West Virginia, as well as the Northern District of West Virginia, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Virginia. Hodges also admitted to cashing two legitimate checks in her father's name totaling $983.12 at Kroger locations within the Southern District of West Virginia.

Hodges is scheduled to be sentenced on May 3 and faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $750,000 fine. Hodges also owes $38,570.78 in restitution.

----charleston, w.va. — Tiffany Bowlin, 33, of Charleston, pleaded guilty Friday to a scheme to defraud the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) of $20,833 in Covid-19 relief loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).

According to court records, on April 27, 2021, Bowlin applied for a PPP loan for her purported sole proprietorship, a hair salon operating under the business name "Tiffany Bowlin." Bowlin admitted that she falsely stated that "Tiffany Bowlin" was established in 2019, when it in fact was not a legitimate business and had not engaged in substantial business activities on or before Feb. 15, 2020. Bowlin further admitted that she submitted a false IRS Form 1040, Schedule C, stating that "Tiffany Bowlin" received $106,600 in gross income in 2020.

The CARES Act, enacted in March 2020, offered emergency financial assistance to Americans suffering from the economic effects caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. This assistance included forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses through the Paycheck Protection Program. Businesses applying for PPP loans had to certify that the business was in operation on Feb. 15, 2020, and were required to provide documentation showing their prior gross income from either 2019 or 2020.

Bowlin submitted the loan application electronically from West Virginia and it was uploaded to servers in Kansas for processing. Bowlin's loan application was approved and she received $20,833 via an electronic transfer to her personal bank account on May 13, 2021. Bowlin admitted that she spent the fraudulently obtained money to benefit herself personally and not for authorized business expenses.

On March 2, 2022, Bowlin applied to have the PPP loan forgiven even though she had not spent the loan proceeds on permissible business expenses. The SBA forgave Bowlin's PPP loan on or about March 9, 2022.

Bowlin pleaded guilty to wire fraud and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 4. Bowlin faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. Bowlin also owes $20,833 in restitution.