Austin Russell Ash, 21, sentenced in Parkersburg gun case

A Parkersburg man caught with a defaced firearm while high on marijuana has been locked up in federal prison. Austin Russell Ash, 21, was sentenced today to a year and a day behind bars on federal gun charges, U.S. Attorney Carol Casto confirmed.

Ash pleaded guilty to two counts: possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number and possession of a firearm as an unlawful user of a controlled substance. Both charges stem from a June 2015 search of his residence on Laird Avenue. The sentences will run concurrently, meaning Ash will serve one year and a day total.

During the raid, Parkersburg Police and ATF agents found a CBC, 715T model, .22 caliber rifle in Ash’s bedroom. The serial number had been deliberately scratched off. Ash admitted to law enforcement that he not only owned the weapon but had personally removed the serial number to conceal its origin.

He also told investigators that he was actively using marijuana at the time he possessed the firearm—making him a prohibited person under federal law. Simple possession of a gun under those conditions is a felony, regardless of whether violence was involved.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Clint Carte and handed down by U.S. District Judge Thomas E. Johnston. The investigation was a joint effort between the Parkersburg Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

This prosecution is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a federal initiative aimed at dismantling illegal gun use through collaboration with local law enforcement. In this case, it put a young man behind bars for trying to hide a weapon’s identity while living under the influence.