Lapwai Man Admits Illegally Possessing Firearm

COEUR D’ALENE – Alex James Ellenwood, 24, of Lapwai, Idaho, pleaded guilty today in United States District Court in Coeur d’Alene to unlawful possession of a firearm, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced.

According to the plea agreement, on September 5, 2012, Ellenwood was arrested at a Clearwater County campground on an outstanding warrant. During a search incident to the arrest, law enforcement found a Ruger .44 pistol in Ellenwood’s backpack. Ellenwood is prohibited from possessing firearms due to his 2008 federal conviction for assault with a deadly weapon, a felony punishable by a term of imprisonment exceeding one year. Ellenwood agreed to forfeit the firearm found in his possession.

The charge of unlawful possession of a firearm is punishable by up to ten years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release.

Ellenwood is scheduled to be sentenced on June 11, 2013, before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill at the federal courthouse in Coeur d’Alene.

The case was investigated by Nez Perce Tribal Police, Clearwater County Sheriff’s Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The case was prosecuted as part of Idaho’s Project Safe Neighborhoods Program, which seeks to reduce gun violence in Idaho.