A Roane County man is headed for federal prison after a jury found him guilty of illegally possessing a loaded revolver — a crime that slammed the door on his freedom just months after he should have known better. William Leon Rhodes, 50, of Gandeeville, was convicted Tuesday in Charleston after a blistering one-and-a-half-day trial that exposed his repeated defiance of federal gun laws.
On June 17, 2016, law enforcement officers arrived at Rhodes’ residence with his consent to conduct a search. What they found under the pillow in his bedroom was a loaded Heritage .22 caliber revolver — a weapon he had no legal right to touch. Nearby, on the nightstand, sat the gun’s original box. In the living room, investigators uncovered a box of .22 caliber ammunition. The evidence painted a damning picture: this wasn’t a forgotten firearm — it was a weapon within reach, loaded, and claimed.
Rhodes didn’t deny it. In a post-arrest interview, he admitted he knew the gun was in his bedroom. He referred to it as “my pistol.” That confession, delivered in his own words, became the anvil on which prosecutors built their case. Assistant United States Attorneys Meredith George Thomas and R. Gregory McVey hammered the point home before the jury: Rhodes knew exactly what he had, and he chose to keep it.
The conviction is especially severe because Rhodes is a documented felon — twice over. A 1990 grand larceny conviction in Jackson County Circuit Court stripped him of his gun rights more than a quarter-century ago. Then, in 2012, he was again convicted — this time for being a felon in possession of a firearm in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. Now, for the third strike in the federal system, he’s facing the full weight of the law.
At the time of the 2016 search, Rhodes was on federal supervised release — meaning he was already under the government’s watch. Possessing a firearm under those conditions isn’t just illegal; it’s a direct violation of court-ordered supervision. Prosecutors emphasized that Rhodes had multiple chances to stay clean and chose instead to gamble with a loaded weapon in his bed.
Rhodes now faces up to 10 years in federal prison when he’s sentenced on April 12, 2017. The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the West Virginia State Police, and the Roane County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas and McVey and presided over by United States District Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr. The message from federal authorities is clear: felons with guns don’t get second chances — they get indictments.
Related Federal Cases
- Rhodes Gets 2.5 Years for Illegal Gun Possession · West Virginia
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- Matthew Duncan, Crystal Roth Admit to Illegal Gun Possession · West Virginia
- Charleston Felon Quinones Admits to Gun Possession · West Virginia
- Fairmont Man Kyle Kuroski Gets 70 Months for Gun Possession · West Virginia
Key Facts
- State: West Virginia
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Weapons
- Source: Official Source ↗
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