MADISON, WIS. – Chadwick M. Elgersma, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Andrew Johnson, 31, Knapp, Wisconsin, was sentenced on September 23, 2026, by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 54 months in federal prison for unlawfully possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. Johnson pleaded guilty to this charge on July 14, 2026.On October 22, 2025, police searched a vehicle Johnson was driving in Dunn County, Wisconsin, and found a loaded Ruger 9mm handgun in the center console with his initials scratched into both sides of the handgun and the serial number scratched off. Johnson admitted to police that everything in the vehicle belonged to him. Johnson is prohibited from legally possessing firearms or ammunition because of previous felony convictions, including robbery with the threat of force. At sentencing, Judge Conley acknowledged Johnson’s history of ongoing, troubling criminal behavior and was concerned by Johnson’s cycle of reincarceration having been on active state supervision at the time of this offense.The charge against Johnson was the result of an investigation conducted by the Menomonie Police Department, Dunn County Sheriff’s Office, and the ATF Madison Crime Gun Task Force, which is comprised of federal agents from ATF and Task Force Officers from state and local agencies throughout the Western District of Wisconsin. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer Remington and Steven Ayala prosecuted this case. Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is the Department of Justice’s nationwide initiative that brings federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement, prosecutors, and other public safety partners together to coordinate efforts to combat violent crime and make communities safe. Coordinated by U.S. Attorneys’ offices in each of the 94 federal districts, PSN is tailored to particular communities to strategically address specific violent crime and public safety challenges. As a key component of Operation Take Back America, PSN serves a central role in the Department’s commitment to make our country safe. PSN emphasizes three core principles: rapid federal response to violent crime and criminal offenders; strong, strategic partnerships among law enforcement at all levels; and accountability and deterrence through the prosecution of the most serious, readily provable offenses and other strategies.Federal prosecutions by the U.S. Department of Justice involving drugs and guns are part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Operation Take Back America. Operation Take Back America is a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice