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MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — A former U.S. Department of Homeland Security analyst was sentenced Monday to 18 months in federal prison for unlawfully making a firearm silencer at his Martinsburg residence.
Jonathan L. Wienke was allowed to remain on bond pending an appeal in the case at the conclusion of Monday's sentencing hearing in U.S. District Court in Martinsburg.
Wienke, 46, pleaded guilty in December to one count of making a firearm in violation of the National Firearms Act.
U.S. Chief District Judge Gina M. Groh ordered Wienke to be placed on two years of supervised release following the prison term.
Wienke was named in a seven-count federal indictment after he was separately accused of bringing a gun to his workplace in Washington, D.C., last year.
The remaining charges in the federal indictment were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
Hours after Wienke was found in possession of a loaded .22-caliber revolver on June 9, 2016, federal officials searched his East Martin Street home, where they found a pistol with an attachment that appeared to be a silencer, according to court records.
A separate District of Columbia superior court case charging Wienke with carrying a pistol without a license was dismissed in February, according to court records and Nicholas J. Compton, assistant federal public defender.
Compton told the court that the government found no evidence that domestic terrorism was being planned by Weinke, noting the defendant had no criminal history to speak of, not even a speeding ticket.
In making an argument that his client be placed on probation, Compton cited Weinke's government and military service, including his deployment to Iraq and his noncombat medical discharge.
When the judge asked Compton for what purpose an ordinary person would need a firearm silencer, his attorney said it was for Wienke's use at a firing range.
"He's building this stuff to go to the range and fire off," said Compton, describing Wienke as a tinkerer and a builder.
Testing confirmed the attachment that authorities found at Wienke's residence was a silencer capable of diminishing the sound of a portable firearm, and the silencer met the definition of a firearm under federal law, the U.S. Attorney's Office has said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Anna Krasinski told the court Monday that a federal agent found that the homemade device to be "the most effective silencer that he had ever seen."
Krasinski also cited a Facebook post by Wienke that indicated he was well aware of licensing and tax regulations for the manufacture of firearms.
Although Krasinski acknowledged that the prosecution did not have any evidence that Wienke was going to kill anyone using the silencer, she said that the defendant was found in possession of a falsified government document at the time he was detained at his workplace, and other components were found at his residence.
At the government complex, security officers found Wienke had a backpack that contained a folding knife, two handheld radio-communication devices, pepper spray labeled for use by law enforcement, a pair of black law-enforcement handcuffs, an infrared camera to view heat signatures and a portable Breathalyzer device, records said.
Wienke, who lost his job, had a top-secret clearance, records said.
He now lives near Chambersburg, Pa., according to his attorney.
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