Claysville, PA man sentenced for making automatic pistols

**deangelo1290@comcast.net** · September 5th, 2014, 03:07 PM

9/5/14 7:05 AM
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Claysville man sentenced for firearms
violations
A Claysville man was sentenced Thursday in federal court to nine months in prison and
one year of supervised release for possessing and selling two pistols he converted into
automatic weapons.
Charles Merle Watson, 53, of Julian Road, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Cathy
Bissoon after Assistant U.S. Attorney Margaret Picking described him as a lonely guy with
a history of physical problems, a spokeswoman said. He pleaded guilty to the charges in
January.
Watson was befriended by Timothy Johnson of Washington. Johnson had a role with a
government informant, who witnessed what happened at Watson’s home Feb. 11 and
June 15, 2011, when Watson converted two semiautomatic pistols into automatic
weapons. Watson was filmed by hidden camera converting the weapons.
Watson’s attorney claimed in presentencing documents that Watson viewed the converting
as “an experiment, a challenge of his own knowledge and skills,” that was not done to
inflict harm or encourage violence.
According to presentencing documents, Watson worked as a firearms librarian at Cabela’s
in West Virginia, traveling to estate sales to purchase guns and refurbishing them. The
documents also said he sold several guns to Johnson “off the books.”
Johnson is serving a fiveyear sentence after pleading guilty to 11 firearms violations,
including possession and transfer of silencers and a machine gun and transfer of a firearm
to a felon. Johnson had ties to former East Washington police chief Donald Solomon, who
is serving an 11-year sentence for three counts of extortion.
Johnson also admitted that was involved in an April 2011 drive-by shooting of a car
belonging to the boyfriend of Solomon’s former girlfriend.
The presentencing documents indicate Watson accepts responsibility for his actions and
understands how they could have hurt others. In letters to the court, familymembers called
him kind and caring, but said he was someone of whom others could take advantage.
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Prior to imposing sentence, Bissoon stated that Watson knew his conduct was unlawful
because of his employment at a sporting goods store and that he knew he was conducting
an “unlawful side business.” The judge said Watson let his enthusiasm cloud his judgment.
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