CEDAR RAPIDS – Colby Palmer, age 26, from Clinton, Iowa, was sentenced today to ten years in federal prison for possessing ammunition as a felon.
Palmer received the prison term after an August 12, 2013 guilty plea to one count of being a felon in possession of ammunition. In a plea agreement, Palmer admitted that, on June 6, 2012, law enforcement officers conducted a consent search of a home located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where Palmer was staying. Palmer had slept the night before the search in the master bedroom. In the room was a bag belonging to him. In the bag was a box of Winchester .357 magnum ammunition. Palmer admitted in the plea agreement that he knew the ammunition was in his bag and that he knowingly possessed the ammunition. Law enforcement officers also recovered another box of .357 magnum ammunition from under the bed. Officers found Palmer’s fingerprints on that box of ammunition. Palmer also admitted in the plea agreement that he had two prior felony convictions. On March 21, 2007, Palmer was convicted in the Iowa District Court for Polk County of Burglary in the Third Degree, and on June 2, 2009, Palmer was convicted in the Iowa District Court for Webster County of Interference With the Official Acts of a Correctional Officer Inflicting Bodily Injury.
Palmer was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade. During the sentencing hearing, the Court granted the government’s motion to increase Palmer’s sentence beyond the sentence recommended by the sentencing guidelines. The Court found Palmer was clearly a recidivist who poses a danger to the community. The Court found Palmer had a criminal history that involved assaults, possession of weapons, assaulting correctional officers, and membership in a white supremacist group. Accordingly, the Court increased Palmer’s sentence from the recommended range of 77 to 96 months, and imposed sentence of 120 months’ imprisonment. A special assessment of $100 was imposed. He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Palmer is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.