False Statements During an Attempted Gun Purchase and History of Threatening Conduct Send Man to Federal Prison on Firearm Charge

A man that made false statements during an attempted purchase of a firearm was sentenced March 29, 2023, to more than 2 years in federal prison.

Dean Kohler, age 56, from Remsen, Iowa, received the prison term after an October 3, 2022, guilty plea to making false statements during the purchase of a firearm.

Evidence in the case showed Kohler knowingly made false statements and representations to a Federal Firearms Licensee in Sioux City, Iowa, in the attempted acquisition of a rifle. Kohler represented that, 1) he had never been adjudicated as a mental defective or committed to a mental institution when, in fact, he had been subject to two court orders adjudicating him as mental defective; and 2) that he was not subject to a court order restraining him from harassing, stalking, or threatening a child or an intimate partner or the child of such partner when, in fact, at the time of the attempted acquisition, he was then the subject of a protective order with an intimate partner.  When the federal background check prevented the sale, Kohler found a private party willing to sell him a firearm. 

Kohler’s criminal history includes Operating While Intoxicated, Carrying Weapons, Violation of Protective Order, Disorderly Conduct, Assault With a Dangerous Weapon – where he threatened people in a Walmart parking lot with a chainsaw, and Harassment – where Kohler told a person "…time was running out for [him] and [his] stupid mother” and Kohler repeatedly drove by the victims’ home honking his horn.

Kohler was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand to 33 months’ imprisonment. He must also serve a 3-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Kohler is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was investigated by USDOJ-ATF and 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 22-4038.

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