All schools in Upshur County will close at 1 p.m. today. All B-UHS sporting events today are canceled.

Randolph County man sentenced for making a destructive device

Judge gavel court

ELKINS, W.Va. – Robert C. Ard, of Elkins, W.Va., was sentenced today to 24 months incarceration for charge involving a homemade explosive device found in his home, United States Attorney Bill Powell announced.

Ard, 54, pled guilty to one count of “Making an Unlawful Firearm” in August 2018. Ard admitted to making a firearm, that is a destructive device.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). Project Safe Neighborhoods is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen D. Warner prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the West Virginia State Police investigated.

U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey presided.

In other regional federal court news, Roger Lee Clem, II, aka “Woody,” of Weston, was sentenced to 37 months incarceration for a firearms charge, Powell announced.

Clem, 30, pled guilty to one count of “Possession of a Stolen Firearm” in July 2018. Clem admitted to having a stolen .45-caliber pistol in Lewis County in October 2016.

Warner prosecuted the case. The Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives, The Mountain Region Drug & Violent Crime Task Force, the Greater Harrison Drug &Violent Crime Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, the West Virginia State Police, Upshur County Sheriff’s Office, Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, the Buckhannon Police Department, and the Weston Police Department investigated.

In another case, Richard Lee Hollobaugh, of Parsons, W.Va., was sentenced to 24 months incarceration for a firearms charge, Powell said.

Hollobaugh, 33, pled guilty to one count of “Unlawful Possession of a Firearm” in August Hollobaugh, having previously been convicted of four felonies, admitted to possessing a 9mm pistol in October 2017 in Randolph County.

Warner prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco, and Explosives and the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office investigated.

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