A man who possessed firearms as a drug user in north Iowa and made false statements during the purchase of firearms pled guilty Friday, June 7th, in federal court in Sioux City.
39-year-old, Brian Lee Byers, of Christmas, Florida, was convicted of four counts of possession of a firearm by an unlawful drug user and four counts of making a false statement during the purchase of a firearm.
At the plea hearing, Byers admitted that between July of 2019 and February of 2020, in Cerro Gordo, Black Hawk, Winnebago, Grundy and Hancock counties, he possessed multiple firearms while using marijuana and methamphetamine. He admitted that on July 25th, 2019, November 9th, 2019, February 22nd, 2020, and February 24th, 2020, he stated on federal forms he was not a drug user while purchasing multiple firearms.
Byers remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing. Byers faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years’ up to life, a fine of $250,000, and five years of supervised release.
