SIOUX CITY – A convicted Iowa felon, and armed drug dealer, who unlawfully possessed a gun was sentenced April 14, 2021 to more than eight years in federal prison.
Gregory Sewalson, age 34, from Sioux City, Iowa, received the prison term after a December 7, 2020, guilty plea to illegal possession of a firearm as a felon. Evidence presented by the United States at the detention, change of plea, and sentencing hearings revealed on September 14, 2019, when officers executed search and arrest warrants for defendant, he was in his basement apartment. Instead of surrendering, he hid his gun in a ceiling tile in his bedroom, scattered more than 65 grams of pure (actual) methamphetamine throughout his basement apartment, and initially refused to surrender to law enforcement. Sewalson had previously been convicted of felony theft in 2014 and felony disarming a peace officer in 2017. He was also convicted of possession of a controlled substance 3rd offense in 2018.
Sentencing was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand. Sewalson was sentenced to 102 months’ imprisonment. He must also serve a 3-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Sewalson is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was investigated by the Sioux City Police Department and the United States Department of Justice — Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Forde Fairchild.
