Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

United States Attorney Steven Russell announced that Derek J. Barbour, 35, of Malvern, Iowa, was sentenced today in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska, as an addict in possession of a firearm. United States District Court Judge Brian C. Buescher sentenced Barbour to 33 months’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. After her release from federal prison, she will begin a 3-year term of supervised release.

On March 19, 2022, Omaha police officers were dispatched to the Double Tree Hotel for a call of suspicious activity - that there were two parties in the back parking lot in a vehicle parked by the dumpsters. Officers contacted Barbour who was standing beside her silver GMC Envoy, in the back parking lot parked between a dumpster and a storage container.

When contact was made with the suspect vehicle, co-defendant Zachary Younts was seen digging around in the back seat while Barbour stood outside the vehicle. Officers observed an open bottle of alcohol underneath the driver seat and an unzipped black backpack on the front passenger seat where officers could see what appeared to be a gun holster.

Officers learned Younts had an active warrant out of Sarpy County and took him into custody. A search of Younts revealed a small amount of marijuana and a live round of .22 caliber ammunition. Younts was found to be a convicted felon and therefore prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition.

Officers searched the vehicle and located twelve (12) firearms and a large amount of ammunition. The firearms and ammunition were later determined to have been stolen in a residential burglary in Iowa.

A search of Barbour’s purse revealed three (3) clear plastic baggies of methamphetamine weighing more than five (5) grams, unknown pills, and a hypodermic needle. Barbour admitted to being a regular user of methamphetamine.

Zachary Younts’s case is pending jury trial in the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Omaha Police Department.