FARGO - U.S. Attorney Timothy Q. Purdon announced that on Nov. 7, 2013, John Harry Woolsey, Jr., of Warsaw, N.D., was sentenced before U.S. District Judge Ralph R. Erickson on one count of felon in possession of a firearm and one count of felon in possession of ammunition.
Judge Erickson sentenced Woolsey, Jr. to seven years’ imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release. Woolsey, Jr. was also ordered to pay a $200 special assessment to the Crime Victims Fund.
On Aug. 21, 2013, Woolsey, Jr., was found guilty by a 12- person jury of possessing a German-made 6-shot.22 short caliber revolver and Remington.22 short caliber ammunition. Federal firearm statutes prohibit possession of firearms and ammunition by a convicted felon. According to the Indictment filed, Woolsey, Jr. had been previously convicted in Arizona of three violent felonies for aggravated assault and resisting arrest in 2001 and 2006.
Woolsey, 38, formerly of Montana, moved to the Warsaw, N.D., area in July of 2011. In December of that year, Woolsey loaned the revolver to a friend. During the early morning hours of April 20, 2012, Woolsey, Jr., also gave the same friend a box of Remington.22 short caliber ammunition for the gun, which Woolsey, Jr. had possessed at his home in Warsaw, N.D. The revolver and ammunition were recovered by the Walsh County Sheriff’s Department later that morning at the scene of an attempted suicide near Ardoch, N.D.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Walsh County Sheriff’s Department; and the Grand Forks Narcotics Task Force (which includes officers from Grand Forks, Walsh, and Pembina County Sheriff’s Departments; Grand Forks, Grafton and University of North Dakota Police Departments, U.S. Border Patrol, and Homeland Security Investigations).
Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott J. Schneider prosecuted the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
