By Tonia Rose, staff writer
June 24, 2009 — A Carter County man pleaded guilty June 12 to one charge of possessing five unregistered firearms in connection to an incident July 4, 2008 when police was called to his Olive Hill home after he blocked the roadway.
Clarence Lyons, Sr., 62, appeared in U.S. District Court in Ashland to offer a plea agreement to the charge – just three days before a trial had been set in the case.
In the meantime, his wife, 60-year-old Regina Lyons was indicted May 29 by a Carter County grand jury on two charges of drug trafficking.
Clarence Lyons was arrested over the holiday weekend in 2008 after contesting that the roadway along Short Ridge Road did not belong to the county and he didn’t want nearby residents traveling it.
Due to statements Lyons made during conversations with police on the day of the incident and statements he had made in the past, an arrest warrant was obtained, said Elliott Gollihue, public affairs officer trooper First Class with KSP Post 14 in Ashland.
During the course of the incident, Lyons was arrested on charges stemming from blocking the county roadway.
According to the plea agreement, Kentucky State Police executed a search warrant of Lyons’ two pieces of property July 5, 2008 and seized several firearms including a U.S. Carbine, Model M-1, a .30-caliber machine gun and a .22-caliber pen gun.
Officers then reapplied for an additional search warrant July 7 and discovered a fully automatic Planfield rifle Model M-1 and a second .30-caliber machine gun.
The National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record indicated that none of the firearms were registered to Lyons.
The plea agreement states that Lyons was aware that under the National Firearms Act, registration was required to possess the guns.
A sentencing hearing is set for Sept. 14 where Lyons could face up to 10 years behind bars and fines up to $250,000. He also will be placed on three years supervised released once he serves the required time in prison.
Lyons initially was indicted on two other felony charges of unlawful possession of a machine gun and unlawful possession of a .22-caliber pen gun, both unregistered.
Following his plea agreement, the government has moved to dismiss both charges at the sentencing hearing.
Regina Lyons is facing one count of first-degree trafficking in the controlled substance Oxycodone, a Class C felony, and one count of second-degree trafficking in the controlled substance hydrocodone, a Class D felony.
The grand jury charges that July 8, 2008 Regina Lyons committed a first offense on both charges with the intent to sell the scheduled II and scheduled III substances.
