CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department has revoked the concealed weapons permit of the man whose company has been cleaning up Freedom Industries’ tank farm on the Elk River.
Daniel Kessler, who owns Diversified Services, the cleanup company, had his permit revoked on Wednesday after the Sheriff’s Department read a Gazette article that said he was sentenced to a spousal abuse program after a 1995 assault conviction in Maryland.
“After reading your article we contacted authorities in Maryland and asked for more information,” Cpl. Brian Humphreys, Sheriff’s Department spokesman, told the Gazette.
Humphreys said the Sheriff’s Department first issued the weapons permit in 2011, and it was re-issued in 2013 when Kessler changed his address.
“In 2011, they didn’t have any information that he went to a spousal abuse program and that the initial underlying charges were domestic violence,” Humphreys said.
In 1995, Kessler pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and battery in Annapolis, Md. In return, prosecutors dropped four other charges, including assault with intent to murder and reckless endangerment.
Kessler was sentenced to six months in jail, five years probation and was ordered to complete a spousal abuse program, according to Maryland court records…