(Western Iowa News) – A Crawford County man found unconscious, behind the wheel of another person’s vehicle on a private landowner’s property while in possession of a shotgun and a handgun, was sentenced April 13, 2023, to 7 years in federal prison. The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa reports 42-year-old Nickolas Schwenn, from Denison, Iowa, received the prison term after a November 10, 2023, guilty plea to one count of possession of a firearm by a felon and drug user.

Evidence in the case showed Schwenn was found on December 12, 2021, by a landowner on private farm ground, unconscious behind the wheel of a vehicle. When law enforcement arrived, they found Schwenn asleep in the driver’s seat of a Pontiac Bonneville which had license plates registered to a different vehicle. Law enforcement also observed a shotgun on the rear floorboard of the vehicle and a handgun in the door pocket of the driver’s side door. The deputy, who recognized Schwenn and knew him to be a felon, woke Schwenn and directed him to exit the vehicle, at which time Schwenn began to argue with the officer. Schwenn then put his vehicle in drive and rammed a cow gate in front of his vehicle. He then put his vehicle in reverse and rammed his vehicle into the front of the landowner’s vehicle. Officers, threatening Schwenn with a taser, got him out of his vehicle and placed him under arrest. Schwenn also advised that he had drugs in his pocket; however, no drugs were found on his person.

Schwenn was not capable of legally possessing a gun as a result of a conviction for burglary. Schwenn has additional convictions for eluding law enforcement. He was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand to 84 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. Schwenn is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was investigated by Crawford County, Iowa Sheriff’s department and Monona County, Iowa Sheriff’s department and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Forde Fairchild.