Homeland Security Employee Accused of Taking Weapons to Work Pleads Guilty to Firearms Charge
A Department of Homeland Security employee accused of taking weapons to work pleaded guilty to a federal firearms charge Wednesday.
Jonathan Leigh Wienke, 46, faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 when he is sentenced next year on a charge of making a firearm in violation of the national firearms act, a spokeswoman for the federal prosecutor in Martinsburg, West Virginia, confirmed. The charge relates to a silencer found attached to a pistol in a search of Wienke's home. The silencer qualifies as a firearm and was made by Wienke.
In June, security officers found Wienke with a gun while he was on the job at agency headquarters on Nebraska Avenue in northwest D.C., according to court filings obtained by the News4 I-Team. A federal agent and security officers also found Wienke had a knife, pepper spray, thermal imaging equipment and radio devices, according to the request for court permission to raid his home about 75 miles from Washington in Martinsburg.
Multiple federal charges were filed after investigators seized 19 firearms and 10,000 to 50,000 rounds of ammunition when executing the search warrant at his home, according to a court filing. Agents also found items in the kitchen “consistent with those sometimes used to make improvised explosives,” but the items were not considered contraband and not seized.
Read more: http://www.nbcwashington.com/investigations/Homeland-Security-Employee-Accused-of-Taking-Weapons-to-Work-Pleads-Guilty-to-Firearms-Charge-407802625.html
