Sioux City Man Sent to Federal Prison for Being a Marijuana User in Possession of a Firearm

A man who possessed a firearm on multiple occasions and intentionally fired upon a car full of people including two young children and who negligently shot a woman in the leg was sentenced, to 3-years in federal prison.         

Jalond Hills, 19, from Sioux City, received the prison term after a guilty plea to one count of felon in possession of a firearm.

Evidence in the case showed that on or about September 16, 2021, Jalond Hills, fired at an individual who was in a car with a woman and her two minor children.  Jalond Hills was caught with the gun and confessed he was in possession of the gun and had fired it while being a user of illegal drugs.

Further, on or about April 15, 2022, Jalond Hills, was at an apartment in the 2200 block of Gibson Street where he and another person began wrestling over a firearm.  The other person was trying to make the weapon safe, and Hills wanted the weapon.  In the end, the other person was shot in the leg while attempting to take control of the gun.  After Hills contributed to this horrible accident, he cut off his location monitoring bracelet, and absconded without even stopping to check on the other person as she began to bleed out.

Jalond Hills was previously convicted of possession of a controlled substance as a juvenile, in the Woodbury County, Iowa District Court at Case Number SRCR112683.

Jalond Hills was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand, to 36 months’ imprisonment. He must also serve a 2-year term of supervised release after the prison term and pay a $100 special assessment fee.  There is no parole in the federal system.

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

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN).  PSN is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

The case was investigated by the Sioux City, Iowa Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Forde Fairchild.

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

The case file number is 22-04057.

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