The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Police/Courts

February 8, 2013

Alderson man pleads guilty to firearms conspiracy

A Greenbrier County man pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court in Beckley to conspiracy to steal firearms from the premises of a federal firearms licensee.

David Alan Rookstool, 22, of Alderson, admitted that from sometime prior to Nov. 21, 2010, until Nov. 22, 2010, he and two known associates conspired to steal firearms from a federally licensed firearms dealer in Lewisburg.

Rookstool admitted that after stealing a vehicle on Nov. 22, he and an associate traveled to Lewisburg to steal firearms. Upon arriving in Lewisburg, the defendant’s stolen vehicle ran out of gas and both Rookstool and his associate walked the remaining distance to the firearm dealer’s store and stole approximately 20 firearms.

The defendant said they then took the guns to an abandoned residence and hid them.

One of those firearms was later given to a third associate and recovered by police.

Law enforcement also discovered that another firearm, a .380 pistol that included a laser scope, was thrown into a river by the defendant’s co-conspirator at the time of his arrest on Nov. 29, 2010.

Rookstool faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced on June 19 by U.S. District Judge Irene C. Berger.

 

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