HANCOCK COUNTY — William Campbell, one of the two men arrested and charged with felony gun crimes stemming from a theft of weapons in February, has had at least one of the local charges against him moved to federal court, officials from the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Federal authorities already had taken over the case against a co-defendant, Jason L. Munden, who has been accused of burglarizing a home in Charlottesville. Some 40 firearms and accessories were taken in the burglary, local investigators said. Steven Whitaker, a Department of Justice spokesman, said Campbell’s case has also been moved to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. According to federal court documents, Campbell has been charged with one court of a felon in possession of a firearm, which carries a sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. The federal case against Campbell was opened in late September, the court documents stated.
The case will be tried in front of a jury in the United States Courthouse, 46 East Ohio Street, Indianapolis, unless a plea agreement is reached. A trial date will be set upon the arrest of Campbell, who is still listed as an inmate in the county jail. Campbell has been in the county jail since Feb. 22, after he and Munden were accused of breaking into the Charlottesville home and stealing an estimated $20,000 worth of weapons and accessories.
Local charges against Campbell, including a Level 4 felony and two Level 6 felonies, are still pending. Officials from the prosecutor’s office did not know yet whether those would be dropped.
