He's Facing Life in Prison for Owning Firearms Without a License
The government appears to agree that Charles Foehner shot a man in self-defense. He may spend decades behind bars anyway.
A New York City man is facing a mound of criminal charges and a sentence that would amount to life in prison after he shot and killed a man who, according to surveillance footage, was attempting to mug him.
The kicker: The government appears to agree with the defendant, Charles Foehner, on at least one major point: that the shooting was justified.
Indeed, prosecutors have not attempted to indict Foehner, 65, on any homicide-related charge. The counts he's facing—there were reportedly more than two dozen of them at his arraignment—are related to criminal possession of various weapons, after police searched his apartment and found that only some of his firearms are licensed with the state.
In other words, he is staring down decades behind bars for having guns that didn't have the proper stamp of approval from bureaucrats, despite the government conceding that the practical use of his weapon—in service of protecting his life—was defensible.
