A Kalispell man was sentenced to two years in prison followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $101,900 after he admitted to transporting stolen firearms and ammunition from a storage unit after an abandoned rental truck was found in Idaho, U.S. Attorney Leif M. Johnson said.
Jeremy Anthony O’Canna, 33, pleaded guilty in September 2021 to transportation of stolen firearms and ammunition.
U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy presided.
According to court documents, Idaho police officers responded to a report of an abandoned U-Haul vehicle that appeared to have been stolen in Idaho Falls in December 2019. An investigation led authorities to a Kalispell man who discovered his storage unit in Kalispell had been burglarized and that he had missing firearms, ammunition and other items.
The investigation traced authorities to O’Canna and evidence revealed that he entered the victim’s storage unit and he removed guns and ammunition. O’Canna sent Facebook messages to people asking if they needed guns and sent photographs of guns and ammunition for sale. He claimed he was on the way to Idaho Falls to sell guns to Mexicans. The firearms and ammunition have not been recovered.
Co-defendant Joseph Vernon Holmstrom of Kalispell pleaded guilty to charges and is awaiting sentencing.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer S. Clark prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, Idaho Falls Police Department and Idaho Falls Animal Control.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a U.S. Department of Justice initiative to reduce violent crime. Through PSN, federal, tribal, state and local law enforcement partners in Montana focus on violent crime driven by methamphetamine trafficking, armed robbers, firearms offenses and violent offenders with outstanding warrants.