POCATELLO - Joseph Edison McNutt, 35, of American Falls, Idaho pleaded guilty today to unlawful possession of firearms, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. McNutt was indicted by a federal grand jury on March 22, 2016.
According to the plea agreement, on Dec. 27, 2015, McNutt was stopped by the Idaho State Police for a traffic violation on U.S. 91 in Bannock County, Idaho and arrested on an outstanding warrant. A search of McNutt’s vehicle revealed a Smith and Wesson.40 caliber pistol and a FEG 7.62 x 39 caliber rifle. McNutt admitted to unlawfully possessing both guns. McNutt was prohibited from possessing firearms under federal law, because he had been previously convicted of a felony, burglary in the second degree, in Pima County, Arizona in 2007.
The crime is punishable by up to ten years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, and three years of supervised release. Sentencing is set for Dec. 13, 2016, before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill at the federal courthouse in Pocatello.
The case was investigated by the Idaho State Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).
The case was prosecuted as part of Idaho’s Project Safe Neighborhoods Program, which seeks to reduce gun violence in Idaho.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
