Derrick Woodard, Interstate Travel with Intent to Deal Firearms, West Virginia 2022

In a shocking revelation, Derrick Woodard, 26, of Philadelphia, pleaded guilty to interstate travel with the intent to engage in dealing firearms without a license in a federal court.

The guilty plea was made in the Southern District of West Virginia on December 2, 2022. Woodard could face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

The indictment alleges that Woodard traveled to Beckley with co-defendants on October 17, 2020, to obtain firearms with plans to resell them for profit in Philadelphia.

Stephanie Cohernour, 33, of Fayetteville, pleaded guilty to making false statements in acquisition of firearms. Cohernour admitted to straw purchasing firearms in Beckley for Bisheem Jones and lying on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Federal Firearms Transaction Records Form 4473.

The case remains pending against Jones and four other co-defendants. An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

United States Attorney Will Thompson commended the ATF’s investigative work in the case. Assistant United States Attorney Negar M. Kordestani is prosecuting the case.

More than 40 of the firearms have been recovered in Philadelphia and have been connected to two homicides, crimes of domestic violence, and other violent crimes. The total number of firearms involved in the scheme is over 130.

In related news, co-defendants Arileah Lacy and Terri Lawhorn previously pleaded guilty to making false statements in acquisition of firearms.

Woodard and Cohernour are scheduled to be sentenced on December 2, 2022. Woodard faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, while Cohernour faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.

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