U.S. Department of Justice

United States Attorney
Southern District of Iowa

Southern District of Iowa

http://www.justice.gov/usao/ias/

For Immediate Release

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Des Moines Man Sentenced to 60 Months in Prison for Being a Felon in Possession of Firearm

Des Moines, Iowa — Randy Allen Hale, age 40, of Des Moines, was sentenced on July 1, 2011, to 60 months (5 years) in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons for the crime of being a felon in possession of a firearm, announced United States Attorney Nicholas A. Klinefeldt. Sentence was imposed by Senior United States District Judge Ronald E. Longstaff.

Officers of the Des Moines Police Department seized a handgun from Hale on July 12, 2010, when they responded to an incident at Hale’s residence on 51st Street. The handgun, which was an obliterated serial number, was found in a backpack that Hale had been carrying around for the previous two weeks. Hale was prohibited from possessing a firearm because of prior felony convictions for attempted burglary and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.

Hale failed to appear on the date first scheduled for sentencing and he was subsequently arrested pursuant to a bench warrant. Judge Longstaff noted that Hale received a higher sentence because of his failure to appear for the original sentencing date.

This case is part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods program, and was investigated by the Des Moines Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

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