Fort Dodge Man to Federal Prison for Firearm Conviction

A man who illegal possessed firearms was sentenced November 9, 2017, to more than 8 years in federal prison.

Johnathan Edward Meier, 34, from Fort Dodge, Iowa received the prison term after a June 6, 2017, guilty plea to being a felon in possession of firearms.

At the plea hearing, Meier admitted that on February 14, 2016, he possessed two firearms, namely a Harrington & Richardson .38 caliber pistol and a Hi-Point 9mm pistol.  Meier also admitted that at the time he also possessed 30 grams of marijuana, and drug use and distribution paraphernalia.  Meier was previously convicted of four separate state criminal offenses, punishable by more than one year, namely: (1) Burglary in the Third Degree and Trafficking in Stolen Weapons in the Iowa District Court for Pocahontas County on or about March 4, 2003; (2) Burglary in the Third Degree, on or about November 16, 2009, in the Iowa District Court for Emmet County; (3) Sale or Transport of a Controlled Substance, on or about June 6, 2013, in the Superior Court of California, Orange County; and (4) Possession of Marijuana, more than one pound, on or about September 22, 2014, in Nebraska District Court for York County.

Meier was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand.  Meier was sentenced to 103 months’ imprisonment.  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.  Meier is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shawn S. Wehde and was investigated by the Fort Dodge Police Department and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. 

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

The case file number is 16-3013.  Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.