Cooper Landing Man Living in Illegal Cabin on Forest Service Land Sentenced to 12 Months in Jail for being a Felon in Possession of Firearms

Anchorage, Alaska – Acting U.S. Attorney Kevin Feldis announced today that a Cooper Landing man was sentenced in federal court in Anchorage for being a felon in possession of firearms.

John J. Soper, 57, of Cooper Landing, was sentenced today by United States District Court Judge Timothy M. Burgess, to 12 months in prison.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Aunnie Steward, Alaska State Troopers were investigating a series of burglaries and thefts in the Cooper Landing area when they received information that the suspect was an individual living in an illegal cabin built on U.S. Forest Service land outside of Cooper Landing.   Following up on the information, a trooper and a Forest Service Ranger found Soper, a convicted felon, living in a cabin he had built illegally on Forest Service land.  They also found that he had four firearms in his possession, which he is prohibited from possessing as a felon.

U.S. Attorney Karen L. Loeffler commends the U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Alaska State Troopers for the investigation of this case.