Press Releases
MASON CITY DRUG USER WITH GUNS AND MARIJUANA GROW PLEADS GUILTY
Conviction Follows Death of Friend who was Playing with Defendant’s Guns
November 5, 2009
Contact: Bob Teig
United States Attorney Matt M. Dummermuth announced today that a marijuana user with eight guns and a marijuana growing operation in his basement pled guilty yesterday in federal court in Cedar Rapids.
REINHOLD SPECKMEIER, age 29, from Mason City, Iowa, was convicted of one count of being an unlawful drug user in possession of firearms and one count of manufacture of marijuana. The charges are contained in an Indictment filed September 22, 2009, in United States District Court in Cedar Rapids.
On March 26, 2009, Mason City police were called to SPECKMEIER’s Mason City home because a friend of SPECKMEIER’s accidentally shot and killed himself when the man was playing with one of SPECKMEIER’s guns. SPECKMEIER delayed calling police after the shooting while he got rid of marijuana plants he was growing in his basement and also got rid of related evidence. SPECKMEIER had eight guns, including four handguns and a semi-automatic rifle with a large capacity magazine. SPECKMEIER was a marijuana user at the time.
Under federal law, it is illegal for an unlawful drug user to possess guns or ammunition. There is no such prohibition under Iowa law.
Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade will be set after a presentence report is prepared. SPECKMEIER remains free on bond previously set pending sentencing. SPECKMEIER faces a possible maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a $100 special assessment, and 3 years of supervised release following any imprisonment on the gun charge and 5 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a $100 special assessment, and at least 2 years of supervised release following any imprisonment on the marijuana manufacturing charge.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Bob Teig as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a cooperative local, state, and federal program aimed at the enhanced prosecution of gun crimes. The case was investigated by the Mason City Police Department; Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation; and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
