Source: United States Department of Justice News
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – A Huntington man was sentenced to time served for possessing an unregistered incendiary device, and placed on three years of supervised release to begin once he finishes a term of supervised release imposed for a prior conviction.
According to court documents and statements made in court, deputies with the Cabell County Sheriff’s Office and firefighters encountered Daniel Justin Watts, 36, while responding to a structure fire at his residence on Green Valley Road in Huntington on September 28, 2020. Watts admitted to them that he had constructed an incendiary device commonly known as a “Molotov cocktail,” which he ignited and threw onto the back porch of his residence, setting it on fire. Watts admitted to possessing the incendiary device and not registering it in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.
In 2017, Watts was convicted of possession with intent to distribute heroin and was sentenced to two years and one month in prison followed by three years of supervised release. After the September 2020 incident, Watts’ supervised release was revoked and he was sentenced to one year and six months in prison followed by one year and six months of supervised release.
United States Attorney Will Thompson made the announcement and commended the investigative work of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Cabell County Sheriff’s Office, and the West Virginia State Fire Marshal’s Office.
United States District Judge Robert C. Chambers imposed the sentence. Assistant United States Attorney Ryan A. Keefe prosecuted the case.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia. Related court documents and information can be found on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:21-cr-119.
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