Justin Figueroa, Illegal Possession of Firearms, Iowa 2022

A Sioux City man will spend the next two years and three months behind bars for illegally possessing firearms, according to a March 29, 2022, sentencing.

Justin Figueroa, 25, received the prison term after a November 22, 2021, guilty plea to being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm.

The evidence presented at the plea and sentencing hearings showed that from at least 2017 through 2021, Figueroa was an unlawful user of controlled substances and had been convicted of a felony drug offense in April 2020, both of which prohibited him from possessing guns.

Despite this, Figueroa possessed five guns from April 2017 through June 2020, including a 5.56/.223 rifle, two Glock 9mm pistols, a 5.7X28mm pistol, and a .38 caliber revolver.

Figueroa admitted that he possessed the guns in connection with his felonious drug trafficking and on one occasion traded a gun for a controlled substance. That gun was later found to be part of an attempted murder of a 2-year-old.

Figueroa was sentenced by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand in Sioux City and must serve a 2-year term of supervised release after the prison term. He is currently 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), an evidence-based program that has been proven effective at reducing violent crime.

The case was investigated by the Spencer Police Department, Clay County Sheriff's Office, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Forde Fairchild.

Figueroa's case file number is 21-4051. For more information, visit https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndia/pr/sioux-city-man-federal-prison-illegal-possession-firearms