HELENA-A Montana City man convicted by a jury of illegally possessing a firearm was sentenced today to five years and thee months in prison and three years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.
A jury in October found K. Jeffrey Knapp, 42, guilty of being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm.
Senior U.S. District Judge Charles C. Lovell presided.
The prosecution presented evidence at trial that on April 3, 2019, law enforcement agents served a federal search warrant at Knapp’s home and found 16 firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. Two pistols were found on what appeared to be Knapp’s side of the bed. Knapp, having been convicted of two felonies in Colorado in 1994, knowingly illegally possessed firearms.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Bartleson prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.
This case is part of Project Guardian, a Department of Justice initiative launched in the fall of 2019 to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws. Through Project Guardian, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Montana is working to enhance coordination of its federal, state, tribal and local law enforcement partners in investigating and prosecuting gun crimes. In addition, Project Guardian supports information sharing and taking action when individuals are denied a firearm purchase by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System for mental health reasons or because they are a prohibited person.
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
