CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A former Kanawha County teacher apologized Tuesday for purchasing a gun for her then-boyfriend who later used it in a murder.
Jennifer Napier, 39, of East Bank, a former math teacher at George Washington High School, said the 2011 purchase at the Trading Post in Marmet was a “poor decision” and “I’ve lost everything because of it.”
U.S. District Judge John Copenhaver sentenced Napier to one-year and one-day in prison. She agreed to self-report in December.
- Jennifer Napier had her possible sentenced reduced for her cooperation and limited criminal record.
Copenhaver could have sentenced Napier to up to 30 months but reduced the time under federal sentencing guidelines because of her “cooperation and limited criminal record.”
Federal prosecutors had hoped for even more time. They presented evidence that Napier had purchased two other firearms after the 2011 purchase but Copenhaver ruled Napier didn’t lie on the federal gun purchase form during the second purchase like she did in 2011. The third gun purchased remains unidentified.
Napier told Copenhaver she was in love with Tremale Straughter when he asked her to get the gun, he was a convicted felon. She said she had no idea he would use it to murder Donovan “Don Don” Taylor in Feb. 2013, 16 months after the straw purchase.
Napier offered to testify against Straughter but he pleaded guilty to the murder charge in Kanawha County Circuit Court before his scheduled trial.
Napier pleaded guilty to the federal crime back in April. She was charged with possession of synthetic marijuana in South Charleston this past summer and in a separate incident testified positive for cocaine. But Copenhaver said Napier has passed 16 drug tests since then and completed 20 weeks of drug abuse counseling.
Napier was also sentenced to three years supervised release. She was not fined.
Napier gave a brief statement to the court:
“I apologize to the victim’s family, the board of education, and my family. I take full responsibility,” she said. “I was in love and I made a poor decision. I’ve lost everything because of it.”
Under the plea bargain with federal prosecutors, Napier agreed to give up her teaching certificate until after her sentence and supervised release.