Skip to main content
Press Release

Eight-Time Convicted Felon Sentenced on Firearm and Counterfeit Currency Charges

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Nebraska

United States Attorney Joe Kelly announced that Coldy D. Hackworth, age 30, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, was sentenced today in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska, for Passing Counterfeit Currency and for being a Felon in Possession of a Firearm.  Senior United States District Court Judge Laurie Smith Camp sentenced Hackworth to 77 months’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. Upon his release, Hackworth will begin a 3-year term of supervised release. Hackworth was also ordered to pay $900 in restitution and a $200 special assessment.

On May 23, 2019, Hackworth made arrangements to purchase a 1995 Chevy Tahoe K1500 from the victim via LetGo.com. Hackworth met the victim and her husband at their home in Omaha and purchased the Tahoe using nine counterfeit $100 United States Federal Reserve Notes. The seller signed the title over and Hackworth drove the Chevy Tahoe away. On May 24, 2019, Hackworth registered the Chevy Tahoe in his name in the State of Iowa and his name is listed as the purchaser on the bill of sale for the Chevy Tahoe. The Chevy Tahoe was located by the Omaha Police Department on June 23, 2019, at an apartment complex in Omaha that Hackworth was known to periodically reside.

On June 19, 2019, officers with the Omaha Police Department were called to investigate a suspicious vehicle in Omaha. Upon arrival the officers located the vehicle and made contact with the vehicle’s occupants. Hackworth was the passenger of the vehicle. The driver of the vehicle admitted to being in possession of drug paraphernalia and, as a result, a search of the vehicle was conducted. During the search of the vehicle, officers located a loaded HiPoint C9 9mm handgun in a bag under the passenger seat. Hackworth informed officers “I know I’m a felon and I knew it was in there.” Hackworth later informed officers that there was $5,600 in counterfeit currency in the vehicle. This currency was located in a hidden compartment of the same bag that the firearm had been found in. On June 19, 2019, Hackworth was an eight-time convicted felon and was out on bond in state court pending sentencing for a Second Degree Assault conviction.

This case is also part of Project Guardian, the Department of Justice’s signature initiative to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws. Initiated by the Attorney General in the fall of 2019, Project Guardian draws upon the Department’s past successful programs to reduce gun violence; enhances coordination of federal, state, local, and tribal authorities in investigating and prosecuting gun crimes; improves information-sharing by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives when a prohibited individual attempts to purchase a firearm and is denied by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), to include taking appropriate actions when a prospective purchaser is denied by the NICS for mental health reasons; and ensures that federal resources are directed at the criminals posing the greatest threat to our communities.

This case was investigated by the Omaha Police Department, the United States Secret Service, and the FBI Greater Omaha Safe Streets Task Force.

Updated February 28, 2020

Topics
Firearms Offenses
Project Guardian