Armed gunman who robbed Iowa convenience store sent to prison

SIOUX CITY – An armed gunman who robbed an Iowa convenience store has been sent to prison.

A felon who unlawfully possessed a firearm was sentenced on August 30, 2019 to more than 7 years in federal prison.

Thomas Tuttle, age 34, from Watertown, South Dakota, received the prison term after a March 27, 2019, guilty plea to possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.

Information provided by the United States at the sentencing, change of plea, and detention hearings revealed that on November 2, 2018, Tuttle walked into a convenience store in Sheldon, Iowa carrying a loaded 9 mm, Kel-Tec, Carbine, which contained 30 rounds of ammunition, and stole a pack of cigarettes, frightening customers and employees alike in the process. Tuttle, in fact, possessed and brandished the gun in connection with other felony offenses and contemporaneously with his possession of methamphetamine.

Tuttle was arrested from inside his car by a law enforcement tactical team. He had ingested a large amount of illegal drugs, and had the loaded gun in close proximity. He later commented that he had come to Iowa with “bad intentions” and had he not been sleeping when the tactical team approached him “things would have gone differently” during his arrest.

It was also revealed that Tuttle has a history of dangerousness and violence. He has been convicted four times for Driving Under the Influence, three times for assaultive conduct, and repeatedly for controlled substance violations and other offenses.

Tuttle was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand. Tuttle was sentenced to 90 months’ imprisonment. He was ordered to make $8.00 in restitution (for the packet of cigarettes). He must also serve a 3-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.