Sioux City felon Roque Moreno, 38, was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison Monday for illegally possessing a firearm — a violation that comes on the heels of a violent criminal history stretching back years.
Moreno pleaded guilty on November 19, 2018, to one count of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, a charge that carries stiff penalties for those with prior felony convictions. At the hearing before Chief U.S. District Judge Leonard T. Strand, prosecutors laid out evidence showing Moreno had not only possessed the weapon but had used it to threaten others — including dry-firing at one person and firing into the ground during another encounter.
According to court records, Moreno has two prior felony convictions, disqualifying him from legally possessing a firearm under federal law. His record also includes five separate assault convictions, charges for negligent child abuse, interference with official acts, and multiple DUIs — a pattern of behavior prosecutors described as “demonstrably dangerous” during sentencing arguments.
Judge Strand imposed the 70-month sentence in federal court in Sioux City, adding a mandatory three-year term of supervised release following incarceration. Moreno will be taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service immediately, with no possibility of parole — standard in the federal system.
The case was investigated by the Sioux City Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Forde Fairchild as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the Justice Department’s nationwide initiative targeting violent offenders. PSN focuses enforcement on repeat and high-risk offenders while partnering with community programs to reduce long-term violence.
Case file 18-CR-04068 is available through the Northern District of Iowa’s public court records at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. Follow updates from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.
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