Schenectady Man Pleads Guilty to Firearms Charge

ALBANY, NEW YORK – JAMES A. WAGONER, 40, of Schenectady, New York, pled guilty to making a false statement in the acquisition of a firearm before United States District Court Judge Mae A. D’Agostino, on October 14, 2014, announced United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and James S. Higgins, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Division of the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. Wagoner faces up to ten years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and supervised release of up to three years. Sentencing is scheduled for February 12, 2015 in Albany, New York.

As part of his guilty plea, WAGONER admitted that in October 2009 he made a false statement to a federally licensed firearm dealer when he purchased a rifle in Albany, New York. Specifically, on an ATF 4473 Firearms Transaction Record, in response to a question about whether he was subject to a court order prohibiting him from harassing, stalking, or threatening his child or an intimate partner or the child of an intimate partner, he answered, no. At the time, he was subject to such an order. Federal firearms laws prohibit people subject to such orders from possessing firearms.

The case was investigated by the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF), Albany, NY. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Edward P. Grogan.