NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Wesley Hadsell is facing 10 years prison for a possession of ammunition charge following a resentencing hearing Friday morning.
This comes nearly two years after Hadsell was sentenced to 20 years for the charge. A federal judge considered Hadsell an “armed career criminal” due to his extensive history — which meant anywhere between 15 years and life could be considered.
The 40-year-old has been in and out of custody since he was 12. He has been convicted at least 10 previous times for charges including bank robbery, breaking and entering, burglary and forgery.
Hadsell’s defense attorney argued that one of three prior convictions for violent felonies — a Virginia burglary — was not a qualifying violent felony under the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA). A 4th Circuit Court of Appeals judge vacated Hadsell’s 20-year sentence in July 2017, sending the case back for resentencing.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release Friday Hadsell admitted to buying ammunition from Bob’s Gun Shop in Norfolk on Dec. 23, 2013. Eight days later, he used the ammo with others at a gun range in Chesapeake.
Hadsell retained 40 rounds of the ammo afterwards, prosecutors said.
Hadsell’s name has been in the news for more than three years following the disappearance and death of his stepdaughter, Anjelica “AJ” Hadsell.
AJ Hadsell’s body was found partially buried some 50 miles away from her Norfolk home in 2015, about a month after she went missing.
Police have considered Wesley Hadsell a person of interest, but he’s never been charged in the case.
Detectives recently received handwritten letters from an inmate who claims to have “direct knowledge” of AJ Hadsell’s murder. The inmate told police in June he was housed with Wesley Hadsell at Western Tidewater Regional Jail — that Hadsell shared “specific details” about his stepdaughter death.
The inmate — who has not been charged in connection to the case — told detectives that he wants immunity before he will speak with investigators.
Look for more coverage on Wesley Hadsell’s resentencing later today.
