Climbing Hill Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Unlawfully Possessing Firearms

A man who possessed firearms and ammunition after having prior convictions of two felonies and while being an illegal drug user was sentenced to sixteen months in federal prison on August 26, 2021, in federal district court in Sioux City.

Adam Muecke, age 37, from Climbing Hill, Iowa, received the prison term after a February 16, 2021 guilty plea to possession of a firearm by a felon and a drug user.  Muecke was previously convicted of theft in Plymouth County, Iowa, in 2002, and burglary in Plymouth County, Iowa, in 2003.  At the time he possessed firearms, he was also an unlawful user of marijuana.  Evidence presented at Muecke’s detention, change of plea, and sentencing hearings revealed that on March 13, 2020, during a search of his residence, law enforcement found Muecke in possession of firearms, a baggie containing marijuana, and marijuana pipes, among other things. 

Mueck was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand.  Mueecke was sentenced to 16 months’ imprisonment.  He must also serve a two-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Mueck was released on the bond previously set and is to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on a date yet to be set.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN).  PSN is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

The case was investigated by the Iowa Department of Public Safety’s Division of Criminal Investigation, the Iowa State Patrol, and the Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Forde Fairchild. 

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. 

The case file number is 20-CR‑4029.

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