Sioux City, Iowa — A northwest Iowa man who built and fired two improvised explosive missiles will serve 10 years in federal prison. 60-year-old Daniel Graben of Sioux City has been sentenced in federal court after pleading guilty in July of this year to possession of a firearm by a felon.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District Of Iowa says evidence in the case revealed that on the morning of February 28th, 2022, a rural Plymouth county resident reported seeing what he thought was a “low-flying mortar” over his house, and heard it explode in the distance. He then reported seeing a second object above his house and heard it explode as well in the distance. Another witness reported hearing a “very large explosion”. A third person reported an unattended grassfire at the intersection of two Plymouth county roads.
Law enforcement found the remains of two improvised explosive missiles and connected them to Graben. They then obtained and executed a search warrant on his residence in Sioux City where firearms, ammunition, military-grade explosive materials, bomb-making materials, and 114 explosive devices were found. Prosecutors say Graben had been convicted in 2008 of arson and making a terroristic threat in California, along with being convicted in 2012 of a drug charge in Idaho.
(Courtesy fellow Community First Broadcasting station KUOO in Spirit Lake)
