Man With Assaultive History Who Illegally Possessed Firearms Sentenced to Four Years in Federal Prison

A man who illegally possessed firearms and ammunition was sentenced today to four years in federal prison.

Damon Montano, age 39, from Louisiana, Missouri, received the prison term after a December 3, 2018, guilty plea to possession of firearms by a person convicted of domestic violence. 

Evidence during the case established that Montano was convicted of domestic violence assault in 2007.  After that conviction he continued to possess three different firearms and over 1,000 rounds of ammunition.  At sentencing, Montano stated that he was “terrified [he] would get eaten alive by bears” and possessed the firearms for protection. 

Montano was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams.  Montano was sentenced to 48 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.

In imposing the sentence, Judge Williams relied on testimony at the sentencing hearing which established that, in addition to Montano’s 2007 domestic assault conviction, Montano had committed multiple other assaults, causing serious injuries, including as recently as August 2018 while he was incarcerated in the Tama County Jail and assaulted another inmate.  

Montano 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 Lisa C. Williams and investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Meskwaki Nation Police Department. 

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

The case file number is 18-CR-0092.

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