Powell came to the attention of police when he fired a shotgun dangerously close to an offloading school bus
A Dakota City, Iowa man was sentenced Jan. 30, 2020 to more than six years in federal prison for unlawfully possessing a gun and ammunition.
Christopher Powell, age 39, from Dakota City, Iowa, received the prison term after a June 17, 2019 guilty plea to possession of a firearm and ammunition by a prohibited person.
Information provided by the United States at the court hearings in the case revealed Powell’s crime was discovered when, while he was pheasant hunting, he fired dangerously close to a home, and a school bus that was offloading a young child. An off-duty deputy, waiting to collect his child from the school bus, confronted Powell and discovered he had been using methamphetamine while hunting. A review of Powell’s criminal history revealed he was a four-time felon, including a conviction for Burglary in the Third Degree, and was a domestic abuse misdemeanant. Additional investigation revealed Powell attempted to subvert the law prohibiting felons, drug users, and domestic abusers from lawfully possessing firearms, by directing his wife to purchase his gun.
Powell was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand. Powell was sentenced to 73 months’ imprisonment. He must also serve a one-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Powell is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). PSN is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
This case is also part of Project Guardian, the Department of Justice’s signature initiative to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws. Initiated by the Attorney General in the fall of 2019, Project Guardian draws upon the Department’s past successful programs to reduce gun violence; enhances coordination of federal, state, local, and tribal authorities in investigating and prosecuting gun crimes; improves information-sharing by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives when a prohibited individual attempts to purchase a firearm and is denied by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), to include taking appropriate actions when a prospective purchaser is denied by the NICS for mental health reasons; and ensures that federal resources are directed at the criminals posing the greatest threat to our communities. The United States Attorney’s Office has prosecuted this case with support from our Project Guardian partners. For more information about Project Guardian, please see https://www.justice.gov/ag/page/file/1217186/download.
The case was investigated by the O’Brien County Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Forde Fairchild.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 19-4009. Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
