GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A Grand Rapids man has been sentenced to prison for 42 years for stealing guns, witness retaliation, arson and drug crimes, U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge announced Tuesday.
Charles Edward Skipp pleaded guilty to 10 felony offenses in February. The offenses included stealing firearms from a licensed dealer, aiding and abetting retaliation against an informant and attempted possession with attempt to distribute heroin, among others.
Skipp stole 89 guns from Family Farm & Home in Cedar Springs in 2017, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He tried to cover his tracks shooting at and setting witnesses’ house on fire, then used one of the stolen guns to rob and shoot a drug dealer.
Law enforcement is still trying to find several of the stolen guns.
Skipp had prior convictions for carrying a concealed weapon, reckless discharge of a firearm causing injury, armed robbery, being a felon in possession of a firearm and domestic assault.
“This sentence represents good news for the community, which is much safer with Mr. Skipp in prison,” Birge said. “And the 42-year sentence sends an unmistakable message to anyone else who might embark on a way of life in which one dangerous crime begets another and so on: Your spree will end with you in prison for decades; so don’t even start.”
