Jo’Mario Smith Sentenced to 9 Years for Felon in Possession of Firearm, Sioux City IA, 2022

Sioux City, IA – A Sioux City man has been sentenced to 9 years in federal prison for being in possession of a semiautomatic rifle, methamphetamine, and marijuana, despite being a convicted felon.

Jo’Mario Smith, 35, received the prison term after a change of plea hearing on September 15, 2022. According to evidence in the case, Smith was unlawfully in possession of the firearm and ammunition on March 11, 2022, during a traffic stop for several violations.

During the stop, officers detected the odor of marijuana and a K-9 positively indicated for illegal narcotics. A search of the vehicle revealed a semiautomatic rifle on the driver’s floorboard, near Smith’s feet, that had been spray painted to look like a toy. The rifle had a 25-round banana-style high-capacity magazine fully seated with a round chambered, and also a handgun-style BB gun, 4 separate plastic bags containing illegal drugs, and a live shotgun shell.

The plastic bags contained a total of roughly 3.8 grams of crystalline substance, field-tested positive as methamphetamine, with two of the four bags containing 31.82 grams and 33.99 grams of methamphetamine, respectively. Additionally, a plastic bag containing roughly 3.5 grams of marijuana was found.

Smith has a lengthy criminal history dating back to the age of 17, including theft, domestic abuse, resisting arrest, weapons, drugs, armed robbery, and violence. He was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand to 108 months’ imprisonment, followed by a 3-year term of supervised release.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a violent crime reduction program that focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs.

Smith is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison. The case was investigated by the Sioux City, Iowa Police Department and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Forde Fairchild.

The case file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl, with the case file number 22-04034.

Related Federal Cases