Stephen Jeffrey Wilson (born 1959 or 1960) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

businessman and politician of the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

. In 2020, he was elected to the

Washington State Senate The Washington State Senate is the upper house of the Washington State Legislature. The body consists of 49 members, each representing a district with a population of nearly 160,000. The State Senate meets at the Legislative Building in Olympi ...

to represent the 19th legislative district and took office on January 11, 2021. Wilson is also a

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commissioner.

Firearm incident

Wilson was arrested and charged with unlicensed possession of a firearm in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

on October 21, 2023, after being found with a revolver at the

Hong Kong International Airport Hong Kong International Airport is Hong Kong's main airport, built on reclaimed land on the island of Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong. The airport is also referred to as Chek Lap Kok International Airport or ''Chek Lap Kok Airport'', to distinguish ...

. The gun was legally licensed in Washington State, but not in Hong Kong. According to Wilson, he discovered the unloaded firearm in his carry-on luggage mid-flight. He alerted

Customs officers A customs officer is a law enforcement agent who enforces customs laws, on behalf of a government. Canada Canadian customs officers are members of the Canada Border Services Agency. It was created in 2003 and preceded by the Canada Customs and ...

and was subsequently arrested for possession of arms without licence, which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in jail and a fine of $100,000 HKD. After his initial court hearing, Wilson and his family had verbal exchanges with reporters at the courthouse, leading to police mediation. Wilson was said to have verbally abused the reporters and asked them to delete any photos taken outside of the courthouse. He was ordered to surrender his travel documents and not to leave Hong Kong until his next court date. On October 30, 2023, Principal Magistrate Don So ordered the firearm confiscated and

bound over In the law of England and Wales and some other common law jurisdictions, binding over is an exercise of certain powers by the criminal courts used to deal with low-level public order issues. Both magistrates' courts and the Crown Court may issue b ...

Wilson to keep the peace for 2 years. As all legal proceedings have ended, Wilson was free to leave Hong Kong to continue his vacation.

References

External links

Jeff Wilson at ballotpedia.org

Jeff Wilson at washingtonvotes.org
1960s births Year of birth uncertain Living people 21st-century American politicians People from Ilwaco, Washington Republican Party Washington (state) state senators {{Washington-politician-stub