A man who illegally possessed three firearms was sentenced to over three years in federal prison.
Jonathon Sotres-De La O, age 20, from Sioux City, Iowa, received the prison term after a May 19, 2021, guilty plea to one count of possession of a firearm by an unlawful drug user and one count of receipt of a firearm by a person under indictment. At the time Sotres-De La O possessed the firearms and ammunition he knew he was an unlawful user of controlled substances.
Evidence at Sotres-De La O’s detention, change of plea, and sentencing hearings revealed that despite his young age Sotres-De La O was already a recidivist. In May of 2019, he received a deferred judgment in the Iowa District Court for Harrison County, but was unable to successfully complete the relatively short term of probation. In June of 2020, during an investigation of a shooting perpetrated by roommates and friends, Sotres-De La O was found in possession of a rifle, ammunition, illegal drugs, and drug use paraphernalia. He was charged federally with this crime, and he was released on pre-trial supervision to await trial. While on release, on March 6, 2021, Sotres-De La O was stopped by police while driving his car. Sotres-De La O was searched, and two boxes of ammunition were found in the glove box. A white backpack was also located in the car and it was searched. Two stolen handguns, marijuana, cocaine, and other items were found inside the bag.
Sotres-De La O was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand. Sotres-De La O was sentenced to 46 months’ imprisonment. He must also serve a 6-month term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Sotres-De La O is 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). PSN is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
The case was investigated by the Sioux City, Iowa Police Department and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 20-4079.
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