Christopher D. Smeby, 39, of California, was sentenced today to 47 months in prison for unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of stolen mail, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced. Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill also ordered Smeby to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term. Smeby pled guilty to the charge on December 1, 2010.

According to the plea agreement, Smeby admitted possessing a firearm stolen during a residential burglary in Washington County, Idaho, as well as 230 pieces of First Class U.S. Mail stolen from Medford, Talent, and Phoenix, Oregon. Smeby further admitted that he and his codefendant, David Earl Oliver, drove from California to Idaho in a stolen RV. The pair stopped in Oregon, where the mail was stolen from several receptacles. The stolen RV, mail, and firearms were located by Washington County Sheriff’s deputies at the Mann Creek campground near Weiser, Idaho, on June 9, 2009.

David Earl Oliver, 38, of California, was sentenced on February 8, 2010, to 34 months in prison.

The case was investigated by Washington County Sheriff’s Office, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Weiser Police Department, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The prosecution was part of Idaho’s Project Safe Neighborhoods Program, which seeks to reduce gun violence in Idaho.