CARROLL COUNTY MAN SENTENCED FOR VIOLATING
TERMS OF PROBATION IN HANDGUN CASE

Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. announced today that a Carroll County man, Charles William Morgan, of 132 Baltimore Avenue, Taneytown, was sentenced September 4 to 18 months incarceration for violating the terms of the probation on which he was placed after being found guilty of submitting a false application to purchase a handgun.

On November 19, 2001, Morgan pleaded guilty to submitting a false application to purchase a handgun before the Honorable Lenore R. Gelfman, sitting for the Circuit Court for Howard County. Judge Gelfman sentenced Morgan to two years of incarceration, all suspended, and placed Morgan on five years of supervised probation. As part of the probation, Morgan was required to not possess any firearms, to have an alcohol/drug evaluation, to be tested randomly for alcohol and drugs, to have a psychological evaluation and follow any treatment as directed, to have no adverse contact with the petitioner in the protective order, to attend an anger management/domestic violence course, and to obtain his GED. On September 4, 2003, Judge Gelfman found Morgan in violation of his probation and resentenced him to two years of incarceration, with 6 months suspended.

The facts underlying Morgan’s original conviction are that on April 27, 2001, he completed an application to purchase a 44-magnum Ruger Super Black Hawk handgun at a Frederick County gun store. On the application, Morgan falsely denied that he was subject to a protective order at that time.

Funding for the Attorney General’s Firearms Trafficking Unit, which prosecuted this case, comes from grants received from the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention and the Maryland State Police Cease Fire Council.

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