Acting United States Attorney Jan Sharp announced that Joshua M. Chafa, 29, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, was sentenced on Sept. 29, 2021, in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska, for possession with intent to distribute 5 grams or more of Methamphetamine and for being a felon in possession of ammunition. United States District Judge Brian C. Buescher sentenced Chafa to 60 months’ imprisonment on both counts to run concurrently. After Chafa’s release from prison, he will begin a four-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.
On July 28, 2020 Omaha Police officers noticed Chafa in a vehicle on North 30th Street that had been reported as stolen. Chafa was arrested and found in possession of Winchester ammunition. During a vehicle search officers found a small silver chest containing dozens of small Ziploc bags, a digital scale, pipes, 5 grams of actual methamphetamine, and more ammunition. ATF agents determined that the Winchester rounds had moved in interstate commerce. Chafa admitted to possessing the methamphetamine and that he had recently served an eight-year prison sentence. Chafa was convicted previously in the District Court of Pottawattamie County, Iowa for second degree theft on March 29, 2012.
This case was investigated by the Omaha Police Department and was part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally based strategies to reduce violent crime.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
