Skip to main content
Press Release

Charles City Man Sentenced To Life In Prison On Firearms Violations

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Iowa

Sentencing Judge Finds Defendant Murdered Burglary Victim

Randy Patrie, age 41, from Charles City, Iowa, received a life sentence after a September 6, 2013, guilty plea to possessing sawed-off shotguns and being a felon in possession of firearms.  The court found at sentencing that he had used a sawed-off shotgun to commit a murder while stealing other firearms from the victim.

Evidence presented at a sentencing hearing in February 2014 showed that, in October 2012, Patrie burglarized the home of Ken Gallmeyer, located outside Nashua, Iowa.  Finding Gallmeyer asleep in his bed, Patrie shot Gallmeyer in the head with a sawed-off .410 gauge shotgun.  Patrie then ransacked the house in search of a large amount of cash Gallmeyer was rumored to have had in his house.  In July 2013, a Charles City Police Officer arrested Patrie for burglarizing his step-mother’s house.  In a search of Patrie’s house, officers found three firearms stolen from Gallmeyer, along with Gallmeyer’s large screen television and other property belonging to Gallmeyer.  Patrie was also found in possession of approximately 32 firearms, two of which had been stolen in March 2013 during a burglary of another residence near Gallmeyer’s house, and 22 of which had been stolen in May 2013 during a burglary of the Gilbert’s Sales Yard in Floyd, Iowa.  Among the firearms recovered from Patrie’s house was a .410 gauge sawed-off shotgun believed to have been the weapon Patrie used to murder Ken Gallmeyer. 

Patrie was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade.  After hearing the evidence during the February sentencing hearing, the Court took the case under advisement.  On June 12, 2014, the Court issued written findings of fact and made rulings on legal issues (Document 58).  In the written findings, the Court concluded Patrie had murdered Gallmeyer.  The Court found that Patrie qualified as an Armed Career Criminal, which carries a mandatory minimum of fifteen years and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.  At today’s hearing, the Court heard victim impact statements, and then imposed sentence.  Patrie was sentenced to life imprisonment.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Patrie is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

“This was a horrible crime,” said U.S. Attorney Techau.  “The sentence is just and will certainly ensure that Randy Patrie never inflicts such intolerable and unspeakable cruelty on anyone else again.  It is a measure of justice for Mr. Gallmeyer and his family.”

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney C.J. Williams and investigated by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the Chickasaw and Floyd County Sheriff’s Offices, and the Charles City Police Department. 

Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.  The case file number is 13-2016.

Updated February 19, 2015