MARTINSBURG, W.Va. (AP) — A Department of Homeland Security analyst has pleaded guilty to making illegal silencers after taking a gun and other weapons into his agency’s building in Washington.
Jonathan Wienke pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court in Martinsburg, West Virginia, to illegally making a firearm.
Court filings allege Wienke carried a backpack with a knife, infrared camera, pepper spray and handcuffs into agency headquarters June 9. Authorities found a gun in his pocket, and later found ingredients for explosives and gun silencers at his Martinsburg home.
Wienke faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, but prosecutors agreed to recommend a lesser sentence.
The department’s chief security officer told a congressional subcommittee there’s “no indication” Wienke planned workplace violence.
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