[WV] Ex St. Albans Officer Chapman gets 7 months instead of 10 years for his repeated domestic stalking, and gun crimes

A former St. Albans police officer [Ronald Mark Chapman] faces 10 years in prison... [Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Johnston] asked [U.S. District Judge Robert C.] Chambers to impose a sentence within the range recommended by the federal guidelines. "I know he's a law enforcement officer, but he's not above the law," she said. Chambers said he didn't see any additional benefit to incarcerating Chapman for an additional period, and gave him a vastly reduced sentence...


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• [WV] Carla Jo's December - ...She said her husband had fired two rounds while she was standing nearby. When Ronald Chapman picked up a revolver and put it to his head, Carla Jo Chapman said she left... If he had really wanted to kill himself, he would have. Shooting through a window and into a house across the street is not attempting suicide...
• [WV] Scary to ex-wife and ex-girlfriend, "resigned" Officer Chapman pleads guilty on federal gun charge-A former St. Albans police officer [Ronald Chapman] who resigned in November after he misrepresented himself as a South Charleston officer while stalking his ex-girlfriend pleaded guilty to a federal gun charge on Tuesday... he reportedly shot at a neighbor's house, where his ex-wife had retreated...

FORMER POLICE OFFICER FACING 10 YEARS IN PRISON
58wchs.com
Oct 1, 2010
[Excerpts] A former St. Albans police officer faces 10 years in prison on a federal gun charge after admitting to stalking his ex girlfriend. Police say Ronald Mark Chapman, 44, had three handguns, three shotguns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition last December. At the time, Chapman was under a domestic violence protective order, which banned him from owning firearms. Police say after Chapman's long-time girlfriend broke up with him in October of last year, Chapman began stalking her... St. Albans Police Chief Joe Crawford told Chapman to stay away from his ex. Only a few days later, Chapman's ex saw him looking into her bedroom window. That prompted Chapman's ex to get a domestic violence protection order. The order banned Chapman from owning firearms. Chapman was then forced to resign from the St. Albans Police Department. Less than two months later police arrested Chapman and charged him with wanton endangerment after an incident where Chapman allegedly shot at a neighbor's house... Chapman put a gun to his head saying he would kill himself. His ex-wife, with whom he had been living, tried to get the gun away from him. Chapman then took the gun and shot twice into the wall. Chapman then got a shotgun from his closet. His ex-wife again tried to take the gun from him, but was unsuccessful. When Chapman picked up a .38 revolver, his ex-wife fled... At his home they found the six guns and 900 rounds of ammunition. Sentencing is set for 1:30 pm Monday in Huntington Federal Court. [Full article here]

FORMER ST. ALBANS OFFICER SENTENCED ON GUN CHARGE: A former St. Albans police officer who stalked his ex-girlfriend and wrestled with his ex-wife for control of a gun during an apparent suicide attempt will spend seven months on home confinement.
The Charleston Gazette
By Andrew Clevenger
October 4, 2010
[Excerpts] A former St. Albans police officer who stalked his ex-girlfriend and wrestled with his ex-wife for control of a gun during an apparent suicide attempt will spend seven months on home confinement. In July, Ronald Mark Chapman, 44, of Milton, admitted that he had three handguns and three shotguns, as well as hundreds of rounds of ammunition, in his possession on Dec. 28, 2009, while he was subject to a domestic violence protective order. U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers said Monday during Chapman's sentencing that his 16-year career as a police officer and his service in Iraq were compelling reasons to give Chapman a lighter sentence than the 24 to 30 months in prison suggested by federal sentencing guidelines... Chapman was clearly suffering from emotional and psychological problems when he had an apparent breakdown in December 2009, the judge said. At the time, Chapman was staying with his ex-wife in Milton after having broken up with his girlfriend of 3 1/2 years earlier that year. He had been forced to resign from the St. Albans Police Department in November after ignoring Police Chief Joe Crawford's orders to stay away from his ex-girlfriend. The woman took out a domestic violence protective order against Chapman after several stalking incidents, including one in which Chapman, dressed in black and wearing a toboggan, identified himself to onlookers as a member of the South Charleston Police Department when spotted outside of her new boyfriend's house. Because of that order, Chapman was not allowed to possess guns. He gave his guns to his former father-in-law when officers came to collect them, but the older man brought them back four days later, according to court records. "That sort of conscious disregard for the law was unbecoming for a law enforcement officer, to say the least," Chambers said... The judge said that he did not believe that Chapman was trying to shoot his ex-wife...Defense attorney Richard Weston said that Chapman had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder following his service in Iraq in 2005... Chapman said he wrote a letter to his superiors in the St. Albans Police Department asking for help, but none was provided... Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Johnston said that before Chapman resigned, her office had to inform his commander in the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team that the U.S. Attorney's Office couldn't use Chapman's work on cases because of issues with his honesty. She asked Chambers to impose a sentence within the range recommended by the federal guidelines. "I know he's a law enforcement officer, but he's not above the law," she said. Chambers said he didn't see any additional benefit to incarcerating Chapman for an additional period, and gave him a vastly reduced sentence... [Full article here]
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