A drug user who possessed firearms and ammunition was sentenced on January 5, 2021, to four years in federal prison.
Daniel Heim, age 33, of Dubuque, Iowa, received the sentence after an Aug. 17, 2020 guilty plea to one count of being a drug user in possession of firearms and ammunition. In a plea agreement, Heim admitted that, in December 2019, he possessed 14 firearms and 3,398 rounds of ammunition while being a user of marijuana and cocaine. Heim also admitted that, in December 2019, while on a road in Dubuque County, he fired at least five shots from a.45 caliber pistol that was later found in his truck. The other firearms were found in Heim’s residence.
Heim was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Heim was sentenced to 48 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.
Heim was released on the bond previously set and is to surrender to the United States Bureau of Prisons on a date yet to be set.
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. For more information about Project Guardian, please see https://www.justice.gov/ag/page/file/1217186/download.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark Tremmel and was investigated by the Dubuque Police Department, the Dubuque County Sheriff’s Office, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is CR 20-1006.
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
