A Woodbridge man could spend as many as 15 years in prison after pleading guilty last week to possessing a gun despite having a felony conviction on his record, the U.S. Justice Department says.
Khari Wheeler, 27, was arrested on Feb. 18 of this year after a loaded gun “fell from his person” while he was allegedly attempting to flee Fairfax County police officers at an apartment community in Herndon, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
The Fairfax County Police Department had dispatched officers to an apartment on William Short Circle in the Ashford Meadows neighborhood for a reported domestic dispute, an ATF special agent wrote in an affidavit.
According to the affidavit:
FCPD Officers arrived on scene and observed WHEELER in the vicinity of the apartment. WHEELER acknolwedged [sic] that he had been knocking on the door of the apartment, but stated he was trying to get his clothes. When an officer attempted to conduct a pat down of WHEELER, WHEELER shoved one of the officers and attempted to flee. During the ensuing struggle, a firearm fell or was thrown from WHEELER’s person, and one of the officers shouted, “He’s got a gun!” WHEELER fled a short distance on foot before being apprehended.
Police recovered the gun, which was identified as a Glock pistol with 14 rounds of ammunition, including one loaded in its chamber, the ATF agent said.
Per the affidavit, Wheeler told a police detective during an interview that he had previously been convicted of a felony in 2021. A search of law enforcement and court databases confirmed that he was convicted of possessing between a half-ounce and five pounds of marijuana with the intent to distribute in Spotsylvania County Circuit Court in 2021.
Online court records indicate that case for a November 2019 offense went to trial, but Wheeler ultimately pleaded guilty and was sentenced on Aug. 25, 2021 to five years of prison time, all but one month of which was suspended.
With the felony conviction on his record, Wheeler is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition in Virginia.
Virginia legalized the possession of up to two ounces of marijuana by adults 21 and older in July 2021. Depending on the exact quantity, excess amounts can be counted as a civil penalty, misdemeanor or felony for more than a pound.
According to court records, Wheeler was initially charged in Fairfax County General District Court with possession of a gun by a nonviolent felon and resisting arrest for the encounter with police in Herndon, but both charges were dismissed once the federal government took over the case in early May.
Wheeler was indicted by a federal grand jury in Alexandria on one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm on June 4. A trial was scheduled for July 28, but that was ultimately vacated after the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported that a guilty plea was in the works.
The plea was officially entered last Friday (July 10).
“At the time that he possessed the pistol on February 18, 2026, Wheeler knew that he had previously been convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year and that he was prohibited from possessing a firearm,” prosecutors wrote in a statement of facts. “The actions of Wheeler, as recounted above, were in all respects knowing and deliberate, and were not committed by mistake, accident, or other innocent reason.”
A sentencing hearing has been set for Sept. 22.
