La Motte Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Sending Threatening Text Messages and Possessing an Unregistered Short-Barreled Rifle and Silencer

A man who sent multiple threatening text messages to his ex-girlfriend and who possessed an unregistered short-barreled rifle and silencer was sentenced today to five years in federal prison.

Steven Michael Conroy, age 34, from La Motte, Iowa, received the prison term after a June 9, 2025, guilty plea to one count of possession of an unregistered firearm and one count of transmitting a threatening communication in interstate commerce.

In a plea agreement, Conroy admitted that, following a child support hearing on July 19, 2024, he sent threatening text messages to his ex-girlfriend.  In some of the messages, Conroy said that he wanted to “pay the child support in lead and flesh,” he told her that her “days are numbered,” and he threatened to shoot her if he ever saw her again.  In another text message, Conroy sent her a photograph of himself with a gun.  Later that same day, as Conroy was driving towards his ex‑girlfriend’s home in Minnesota, Conroy sent additional threatening text messages to her, including that he would be seeing her and her “bodyguard police officer very soon” and asking if the officer’s “plates are rated for level 4.”  On July 22, 2024, officers searched Conroy’s home in La Motte, Iowa.  During the search, officers found multiple firearms, including a short-barreled rifle that was not properly registered to Conroy.  An unregistered homemade silencer was attached to the short‑barreled rifle. 

Conroy was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams.  Conroy was sentenced to 60 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.

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.

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

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Adam J. Vander Stoep and was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the Jackson County, Iowa, Sheriff’s Office; the Iowa State Patrol, the Sabula, Iowa, Police Department, and the Winona County, Minnesota, Sheriff’s Office.  

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

The case file number is 24-CR-1036.

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