Cedar Rapids — In a grim turn of events, Billy Douglas Thorne, a 57-year-old man from Mason City, Iowa, was convicted by a federal jury yesterday for unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. The verdict followed a swift one-day trial in federal court.
Thorne, who had previously been convicted of five counts of Burglary of a Dwelling and one count of Armed Burglary in Florida, traded his own dog for a .22 caliber rifle with the intent to harm his son. Fearing police discovery, he concealed the gun in a Mason City park.
On July 24, 2012, Thorne’s sinister plot was thwarted when he was arrested on harassment charges, leading to the eventual recovery of the firearm by law enforcement. The trial, held in Cedar Rapids, concluded with a guilty verdict on April 17, 2014.
Thorne now faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment and potentially life in prison, alongside a $250,000 fine, $100 in special assessments, and five years of supervised release. Sentencing before Chief Judge Linda R. Reade will follow the completion of a presentence report.
The prosecution was led by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel C. Tvedt, with support from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Ankeny Police Department, and the Mason City Police Department.
Court file information for this case is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl, under case file number 13-CR-3052.
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Key Facts
- State: Iowa
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Violent Crime|Weapons
- Source: Official Source ↗
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