Miguel Angel Fernandez, Possession of Stolen Firearm, Virginia 2023

A Waynesboro man was sentenced to 13 months in federal prison for possessing a stolen firearm on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia.

Miguel Angel Fernandez, 19, of Waynesboro, Va., had previously pled guilty to one count of knowingly possessing a stolen firearm. On September 11, 2016, a United States Park Ranger approached Fernandez and several others near a vehicle that was parked along the Blue Ridge Parkway near milepost 41 in Rockbridge County to inquire about litter outside of the vehicle.

As the Ranger approached the vehicle, he smelled the odor of alcohol emanating from the vehicle. While talking to passenger Fernandez, who appeared to be intoxicated, the Ranger noticed a bulge in Fernandez’s waistband and recovered a Springfield Armory XD .40 caliber semiautomatic pistol.

The gun had been reported stolen within the prior two days from the glovebox of a car. In a post-Miranda statement, Fernandez admitted that he knew the gun was stolen but he did not know who stole it and was just holding the gun for a friend.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the National Park Service. Fernandez was sentenced to 13 months in federal prison and 2 years of supervised release thereafter.

Assistant United States Attorney Nancy S. Healey prosecuted the case for the United States. The sentence was imposed by a federal judge in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Lynchburg.

Fernandez’s exact address was not mentioned in the report, but he was identified as a resident of Waynesboro, Virginia.

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