Gunfire hasn’t been heard, but the threat was real. Melvin Theophilius Hill, 38, of Ashland, Kentucky, is headed to federal prison for five years and four months after being caught with a loaded handgun in Huntington, West Virginia—despite being legally barred from owning one due to prior felony convictions.
The bust went down May 2, 2022, when law enforcement pulled over the vehicle Hill was driving near 13th Street and Ninth Avenue. A search turned up an FN 509 9mm handgun, fully loaded, stuffed in the rear passenger seat pocket. Hill didn’t fight it—he admitted on the spot he put it there and knew it was illegal.
Federal law draws a hard line: once a convicted felon, always barred from possessing firearms or ammunition. Hill had already been convicted in Boyd County, Kentucky Circuit Court—for second-degree robbery on May 9, 2008, and first-degree possession of a controlled substance on January 12, 2011. He knew the rules. He broke them anyway.
U.S. Attorney Will Thompson confirmed the sentence, praising the joint effort between the Huntington Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). This case, Thompson noted, is part of the broader Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) initiative aimed at crushing violent crime through coordinated federal, state, and local crackdowns.
Sentencing was handed down by U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers, who ordered not just prison time but three years of supervised release post-incarceration. Assistant U.S. Attorney Courtney L. Cremeans prosecuted, ensuring the full weight of federal gun laws landed squarely on Hill’s shoulders.
Project Safe Neighborhoods, reinvigorated in May 2021, focuses on strategic enforcement, community trust, and violence prevention. But cases like Hill’s show the raw edge of the strategy: swift prosecution for those who keep loading the dice. Court records are publicly available via PACER under Case No. 3:22-cr-134.
Related Federal Cases
- Kentucky Man Cuffed for Gun Possession in Huntington · Kentucky
- Rollie C. Poynter Jr. Charged with Illegal Firearm Possession · Kentucky
- Charleston Felon Ronald Sayles Cuffed for Gun Possession · West Virginia
- Huntington Felon Jonathan Baker Cuffed for Illegal Firearm Possession · West Virginia
- Huntington Felon Wolford Gets 18 Months for Gun Possession · West Virginia
Key Facts
- State: West Virginia
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Weapons
- Source: Official Source ↗
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