A convicted felon who possessed and sold a firearm was sentenced on May 16, 2019, to more than one year in federal prison.
James Leroy Walter Kottman, age 42, from Luana, Iowa, received the prison term after a Dec. 28, 2018, guilty plea possessing a firearm as a felon.
At the guilty plea, Kottman admitted that in November 2017 he sold a gun to his brother-in-law. The buyer later became concerned that the gun had been stolen and turned it into police. Kottman was a felon at the time of the sale, having previously been convicted of possession of heroin with intent to deliver. While state court charges were pending, Kottman obstructed justice by attempting to have the purchaser tell police that he obtained the gun from someone else.
Kottman was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Kottman was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment. He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Kottman is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lisa C. Williams and investigated by the Clayton County Sheriff’s Department.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 18-CR-1046.
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
