Sioux City Man Found Guilty by Jury of Possessing Firearms as a Drug User and Making False Statements During the Purchase of Firearms

Victor Howard, age 28, from Sioux City, was convicted by a jury today after a 3-day trial in federal court in Sioux City. Howard was found guilty of two-counts of possession of a firearm by an unlawful user of a controlled substance, and two-counts of making false statements during the purchase of firearms. The verdict was returned this afternoon following about 4 hours of jury deliberations.

The evidence at trial showed that Howard, while being investigated as a victim of a shooting, admitted to shooting at an individual who came to his residence over a dispute.  Howard claimed to be waiting for the shooter and as the shooter approached, Howard shot at him multiple times.  Howard admitted to law enforcement that he was smoking a “blunt” while he was waiting for the shooter to arrive, and further admitted to smoking marijuana, as well as illegally using Xanax.  During the investigation, Sioux City Police noted multiple gun purchases, 25 total, between November 2021 and September 2022—many after the initial shooting incident.  When purchasing these firearms, Howard made false statements in order to purchase the firearms.  Namely, certifying that he was not an unlawful user of controlled substances. 

Sentencing before United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand will be set after a presentence report is prepared.  Howard was taken into custody by the United States Marshal after the verdict was returned and will remain in custody pending sentencing.  Howard faces a possible maximum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment, and 3 years of supervised release following any imprisonment.

The case was investigated by Sioux City Police Department, Sgt. Bluff Police Department, the United States Department of Justice – Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, (ATF) and the United States Department of Justice – Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ron Timmons.

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

The case file number is 24-4005.

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