COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA – A man from Nebraska was sentenced Tuesday (1/31/23) in Council Bluffs U-S District Court, to serve a little more than 8-years in prison. 42-year-old Ryan Daniel Linehan, of Omaha, was ordered to serve 100 months in prison following his plea of guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. After he is released from prison, Linehan will serve three years of supervised release.

On February 5, 2021, law enforcement encountered Linehan at work, operating an excavator. When notified officers were there to arrest him on an outstanding warrant, Linehan barricaded himself in the excavator, in possession of a loaded Ruger handgun, which led to a nine-hour standoff. In Linehan’s truck, officers also located a loaded Hi-Point handgun.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The Council Bluffs Police Department, United States Marshal Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case.

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. In May 2021, the Department of Justice 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.