Sioux City Man Sentenced to 16 Years in Federal Prison For Illegal Possession of a Gun and Violation of Federal Supervised Release

Press Release

A man on supervised release was sentenced January 16, 2025, to 16 years in federal prison.

Bob Schonrock, age 54, from Sioux City, received the prison term after pleading guilty to one count of possession of a firearm by a felon and drug user, and one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

Schonrock has an extensive criminal history including, aggravated battery, grand theft, possession of controlled substance, eluding and possession of a controlled substance (marijuana) in state court, and possession of a firearm by a felon and drug user and possession of a stolen firearm in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa.

Evidence in the case revealed that in November of 2023, Sioux City Police officers conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle Schonrock was operating for an equipment violation. Drug paraphernalia was observed in plain view on the front passenger seat. During a search, a scale with methamphetamine residue was located on Schonrock, and a handgun was found in a tool bag in the back seat of the vehicle. A magnetic container was also located underneath the vehicle adjacent the driver's door which contained approximately 10.74 grams of methamphetamine.

Officers also located a garage Schonrock was known to use. and upon a search found methamphetamine residue on a countertop adjacent to packaging materials and a plastic bag containing methamphetamine with an approximate gross weight of 483 grams.

Schonrock was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand to 180 months' imprisonment, consecutive to 12 months imprisonment for the supervised release violation. He must also serve a 5-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). PSN is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice's violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

Rockwood is being held in the United States Marshal's custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was investigated by Sioux City, Iowa Police Department and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Forde Fairchild.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

The case file number is 23-04081 and 19-04058.

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Updated January 17, 2025