A man who stole two handguns and broke into five homes in Minnesota and Iowa was sentenced on Feb. 16, 2016, to more than three years in federal prison.
Raymond Hochstetler, age 26, of Seymour, Iowa, received the prison term after a guilty plea of one count of possession of firearms by an unlawful drug user and one count of possession of stolen firearms.
In a plea agreement, Hochstetler admitted he was a regular user of marijuana and methamphetamine in April 2014. He further admitted that he stole two handguns in Minnesota, and then, on April 8, 2014, drove from Minnesota into Northern Iowa with the two guns and a juvenile girl. At the sentencing hearing, Hochstetler admitted that he also broke into five homes, three in Minnesota and two in Iowa during his April 8, 2014 trip. The judge at the sentencing hearing described Hochstetler’s trips as a “crime spree."
Hochstetler was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade. Hochstetler was sentenced to 41 months’ imprisonment and fined $5,000. A special assessment of $200 was imposed. He must also serve a 3-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
The case was investigated by the Mitchell County Sheriff’s Office and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.
The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Fedline Ferjuste.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 16-cr-02025-LRR.
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
