{Hamlin, West Virginia}...James Matheny, 62, of Midkiff, in Lincoln County, will be sentenced in August after a federal jury convicted him Friday of assaulting a federal officer and using a deadly weapon during and in relation to a crime of violence for pulling a gun on FBI Special Agent Todd Berry and Jim Wise, an investigator with the West Virginia Secretary of State's office, who were looking into voter fraud in Lincoln County in the May 2010 primary election. Matheny testified that, when the investigators came to his home on February 28th, they never identified themselves and he never saw a badge, but U.S. Attorney Thomas Ryan argued there was no basis for Matheny's self-defense claim. Matheny faces a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in prison and a maximum of life imprisonment when sentenced August 22nd.
