CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A Charleston woman was sentenced today to three years in prison and three years of supervised release for being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm.
According to court documents, on August 27, 2020, law enforcement officers stopped Kayla Slater, 29, walking on Beech Avenue in Charleston after a car she was sighted in took off from police. Officers seized a Beretta Px4 Storm 9mm semi-automatic pistol in plain view in Slater’s handbag and approximately 80 grams of fentanyl from her person. Slater later admitted to the officers that the gun and drugs were hers, that she had been trafficking large quantities of controlled substances, and that she was addicted to heroin. Slater is prohibited from possessing firearms due to being an habitual user of a controlled substance
United States Attorney Will Thompson made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the Charleston Police Department.
United States District Judge Irene C. Berger imposed the sentence. Assistant U.S. Attorney Negar M. Kordestani prosecuted the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:21-cr-00079.
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