MADISON, WIS. – Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Stephen J. Robeson, 58, of Oxford, Wisconsin, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to one day in custody with credit for time served for being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was also ordered to spend two years on supervised release. Robeson pleaded guilty to this charge on October 19, 2021.
On September 26, 2020, Robeson bought a .50 caliber rifle from a man he met at church. The man delivered the gun to Robeson and went shooting with him before the purchase was finalized. Several months later, Robeson sold the gun to a person he met on Facebook messenger. At the time of the purchase, Robeson knew that he was not allowed to possess the firearm because he had previously been convicted of felony insurance fraud.
In sentencing Robeson to supervised release, Judge Conley noted that while the defendant had an extensive criminal history, his last conviction was in 2005. He also found it mitigating that the defendant possessed a long gun suitable for collection and only possessed it for a short period of time.
The charge against Robeson was the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Marquette County Sheriff’s Office, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elizabeth Altman and Chadwick Elgersma prosecuted this case.
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