KINGWOOD — A man stopped on Interstate 68 in March who said he was on his way to meet with President Trump and “do bad things” has pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges.
Eric Leonardo Charron, 42, of Kansas City, Mo., pleaded guilty Wednesday to reckless driving and being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail on each charge, to run concurrently, with credit for the 36 days he has served since his arrest. Preston Magistrate P.L. Grimm also levied costs of $378.50.
Traffic was halted on I-68 for more than two hours March 27, after a trooper did a traffic stop on Charron. Charron’s Mazda 6 was going more than 130 mph, the trooper said. He stopped near mile marker 30.
According to the criminal complaint, Charron said he was late for dinner with the president at the White House and had to go by the Pentagon and return a phone to the leader of the Army. He told the trooper he had a 9 mm pistol in the trunk of his car and some explosives.
Trooper First Class D.W. Satterfield said Charron told him he wanted to give the gun and explosives to Trump and allowed Satterfield to open his trunk. However, the trunk didn’t open via the remote key, and Charron said he had tampered with the fuses so the CIA couldn’t listen to him through the radio.
Charron also told Satterfield he had smoked meth recently and hadn’t stopped since he left home the night before. Police estimated that was nearly 13 hours previously.
The WVSP Explosive Response team and K-9 handlers from WVU Police were called. Dogs detected explosives in the car. Police found the pistol, ammunition and gun powder, along with handwritten documents in which Charron talked about time travel, levitating watercraft and mythical creatures.
Also according to police, during an interview, Charron said he received the White House invitation through his “special hearing,” which also told him to do bad things while in Washington.
Charron has been in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail in lieu of $10,000 cash bond since his arrest.
