High Dollar Stolen Weapons Haul Lands Kalispell Man in Prison

What appears to be a calculated crime went all kinds of wrong for a Kalispell man. And it will cost him.

Associated Press reports that Jeremy Anthony O’Canna has been sentenced to two years in prison followed by three years supervised released, as a result of a guilty plea last fall to  illegally transporting stolen firearms and ammunition across the Montana border. He is also ordered to pay nearly $102,000 in restitution, which might give you some idea of the stash he pilfered from another man's storage unit.

The heist started to break down when Idaho Falls police received a report of an abandoned U-Haul vehicle that had been stolen. Authorities began connecting the dots, which led them back to Kalispell, where another individual reported that his storage unit had been broken into, and he was missing firearms, ammunition and other items.

It's usually helpful to law enforcement when suspects take to social media with details of the items they stole. Evidence indicates Mr. O’Canna entered the victim’s storage unit and removed guns and ammunition. He then took to Facebook, asking if people needed guns and sent photos of the guns and ammunition he had to sell. He also stated in the posts that he was on his way to Idaho Falls to sell guns to Mexicans.

Further complicating the case, the firearms and ammunition have not been recovered.That circles back to the O'Canna guilty plea and an apparent accomplice, Joseph Holmstrom, also from Kalispell. He, too, has entered a guilty plea to assorted charges and is awaiting sentencing.

It will be interesting to follow the missing weapons element of the crime to see if and when they are ever recovered.