Dubuque Man Sentenced to More Than Two Years in Prison for Perjury Before a Federal Grand Jury

A Dubuque man who committed perjury before a federal grand jury was sentenced last week to more than two years in federal prison.

John Michael Gronen, age 20, from Dubuque, Iowa, received the prison term after a May 25, 2017, guilty plea to making a false declaration before a grand jury.  At the plea hearing and in a plea agreement, Gronen admitted that he testified falsely, under oath before a grand jury in the Northern District of Iowa on January 10, 2017.  Gronen testified that he had never seen a particular sawed-off shotgun, when he had seen another individual carrying the sawed-off shotgun in September 2016.  Further, Gronen falsely testified that no one was using drugs at his house on September 22, 2016, when he actually saw two people using cocaine and marijuana in his basement on that date.

Gronen was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge Linda R. Reade.  Gronen was sentenced to 27 months’ imprisonment.  A special assessment of $100 was imposed.  He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system. Gronen was released on the bond previously set and is to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on a date yet to be set.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Tim Vavricek and was investigated by the Dubuque Police Department.  Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. 

The case file number is 17-cr-31-LRR. 

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