West Liberty Attorney Found Guilty of Unlawful Possession of a Firearm by a Drug User
Davenport, IA- On April 7, 2008, following a two-day trial, a federal jury in Davenport found James Robert Keele, age 60, an attorney in West Liberty, Iowa, guilty of being an unlawful drug user in possession of a firearm, announced United States Attorney Matthew G. Whitaker.
The trial evidence showed that on July 19, 2007, Keele drove his car off a Muscatine County road and into a ditch. A citizen stopped to assist and observed Keele throw a bag over a roadside fence. Responding law enforcement officers retrieved the bag, which contained cocaine and drug paraphernalia. A urine sample subsequently obtained from Keele showed the presence of cocaine.
When officers executed a search warrant at Keele’s residence, they found cocaine, additional drug paraphernalia, and an AK-47 type semiautomatic rifle. Keele told officers that the AK-47 belonged to a client, who provided it to Keele for collateral. Keele also admitted that he was a crack cocaine addict and had been using crack for the previous year.
Federal law prohibits an unlawful drug user or addict from possessing any firearm.
United States District Judge John A. Jarvey presided over the trial. A date for sentencing has not yet been set.
This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa and investigated by the Muscatine County Sheriff’s Office, the Muscatine Drug Task Force, and the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement.