Sioux City, Iowa — A Primghar man has been sentenced to over a year in jail after being accused of stealing guns from his deceased father’s business.
Court records indicate that 45-year-old Thomas Robert Ginger of Primghar was sentenced after a guilty plea to one count of possession of a firearm by a felon and one count of possession of a stolen firearm. Ginger was previously convicted of felony sponsoring a gathering for use of drugs.
Court records allege that when Ginger learned of his father’s death, he left his grieving family at the hospital, drove to his mother’s home and kicked in the exterior door. Once inside, the records say Ginger broke through another door into an interior “gun room” and stole 55 firearms that had belonged to his father’s Federal Firearm Licensee business. Officers also accused Ginger of taking $7,700 in cash and a briefcase that contained a coin collection. They say he hid the guns in a car at one person’s home and hid the money underneath a sink at his home. When law enforcement confronted Ginger about the crime he initially lied about his whereabouts and involvement. Later, after the weapons were discovered, he confessed.
Ginger was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard Strand to 18 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.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, the O’Brien County Sheriff’s Office, and the Sanborn Police Department.
