Felon Sentenced to Federal Prison For Firearm Possession

A Sioux City man was sentenced December 4, 2019 to more than a year in federal prison for possessing a loaded handgun while being a felon, and on parole.

Ronald Warner, age 47, from Sioux City, Iowa, received the prison term after a February 15, 2019, guilty plea to possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.

Evidence produced by the United States at the change of plea and sentencing hearings in this case, and the related case against Mr. Troy Cooke, showed that Cooke allowed felons, including Warner, regular access to guns and on one occasion gave Warner a gun as collateral on a debt.  Warner, as a felon, could not lawfully possess the gun and Cooke and Warner both knew it.  Warner’s firearm possession was discovered when Probation and Parole Officers conducted a search of Warner’s home and found the weapon hidden, loaded, and cocked.   

Warner was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand.  Warner was sentenced to 20 months’ imprisonment and ordered to pay a special assessment of $100.  He must also serve a 3-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Cooke was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand on November 22, 2019.  Cooke was sentenced to one month’s imprisonment and ordered to pay a special assessment of $100 for providing an employee, Warner, a firearm knowing that employee was a felon.  He was fined $15,000.  He must also serve a 3-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

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

The case was investigated by the Sioux City, Iowa, Police Department and the United States Department of Justice’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.  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 18-CR-4072.

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