Joseph Sampson, Michael Burgess Get Time for Gun Crimes

Two Charleston men are headed to federal prison after being caught with firearms under circumstances that violated federal law, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced today. Joseph Sampson, 36, and Michael Brooks Burgess, 46, were sentenced in separate cases tied to drug use and prior convictions, marking another blow to violent crime in the capital city.

Sampson was sentenced to two years in federal prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm, a charge stemming from a May 8, 2016 traffic stop in Charleston. Officers discovered a New England Arms 12 gauge short-barreled shotgun in his possession. Because of a 2003 felony drug conviction in the Southern District of West Virginia, Sampson was legally barred from owning any firearm. He received an additional six months for violating his federal supervised release, to be served consecutively.

The investigation into Sampson was led by the Charleston Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant United States Attorney John J. Frail prosecuted the case. U.S. District Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr. handed down the sentence, emphasizing the danger felons with guns pose to public safety.

In a separate case, Michael Brooks Burgess, 46, was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison and ordered to pay a $5,000 fine for possession of a firearm by an unlawful user of a controlled substance. The arrest occurred February 8, 2016, during a traffic stop in Sissonville for speeding and suspected DUI. Officers quickly uncovered evidence of far more serious crimes.

During the stop, police found a vial of methamphetamine in Burgess’s pocket and over 30 grams stashed under the driver’s seat. A deeper search revealed a loaded .45 caliber handgun, three high-capacity magazines for a MAC-10, about 50 rounds of ammunition, and more than an ounce of marijuana in the trunk. Burgess admitted he was a habitual, unlawful user of methamphetamine at the time he possessed the weapon.

The Burgess investigation involved the FBI, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department, with support from the ATF. Assistant U.S. Attorney Haley Bunn handled the prosecution. Both cases were brought under Project Safe Neighborhoods, a national initiative to reduce gun violence through coordinated federal, state, and local enforcement.