HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Cassandra Lee Lovely, 34, of Charleston, pleaded guilty today to making false statements in acquisition of firearms.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on April 1, 2023, Lovely purchased a Smith & Wesson M&P 45 from a Hurricane business. Lovely admitted that she purchased the firearm for a convicted sex offender who is prohibited from possessing a firearm because of his prior felony conviction. Lovely further admitted that she falsely certified on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Federal Firearms Transaction Records Form 4473 that she was the buyer of the firearm when Lovely knew she was purchasing it for the individual who was prohibited from possessing a firearm.
Lovely provided the firearm to the prohibited person following the purchase, and he reimbursed her by sending her $748 through the Cash App mobile payment service. The prohibited person was unsatisfied with the firearm, and Lovely traded it in at a South Charleston business for a Smith & Wesson SD9 VE 9mm pistol on April 27, 2023. Lovely admitted that she again falsely certified on the ATF Form 4473 that she was the buyer of the firearm when Lovely knew she was purchasing it for the individual who was prohibited from possessing a firearm.
On June 21, 2023, law enforcement officers seized the firearm when they arrested the prohibited person on an active warrant in Rhode Island.
Lovely is scheduled to be sentenced on April 1, 2024, and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.
United States Attorney Will Thompson made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers presided over the hearing. Assistant United States Attorney Alexander A. Redmon is prosecuting the case.
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. 3:23-cr-183.
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