Former Forest City Man Sent to Federal Prison on Multiple Counts of Firearm Possession by a Drug User and Making False Statements to Purchase Firearms

A former Forest City man who possessed firearms as a drug user and made false statements during the purchase of firearms was sentenced to 45 months in Federal Prison.

Brian Lee Byers, age 39, from Forest City, Iowa, received the prison term after a June 7, 2024, guilty plea to 4 counts of possession of a firearm by an unlawful drug user and 4 counts of making a false statement during the purchase of a firearm.

Evidence showed Byers admitted that between July of 2019 and February of 2020, in Cero Gordo County, Iowa, Black Hawk County, Iowa, Winnebago County, Iowa, Grundy County, Iowa and Hancock County, Iowa he possessed multiple firearms while using marijuana and methamphetamine. He admitted that on July 25, 2019, November 9, 2019, February 22, 2020, and February 24, 2020, he stated on federal forms he was not a drug user while he purchased multiple firearms

Byers was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand. Byers was sentenced to 45 months’ imprisonment.  He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

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

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities and measuring the results.

This case was investigated by the Mason City Police Department, Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kevin Fletcher and Jack Lammers. 

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

The case file number is 23-CR-3018.  

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