(Cedar Rapids) A Council Bluffs man who was found in possession of a homemade large-caliber pistol in the Meskwaki Casino in 2022 was sentenced Thursday to five years in federal prison.
Som Boun Cam, age 56, received the prison term after a September 18, 2023 guilty plea to possessing a smooth bore, .410 gauge pistol, which was not registered to him in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.
In a plea agreement, Cam admitted that on April 14, 2022, he was in the Meskwaki Casino hotel when he was involved in a scuffle with another guest and misplaced his backpack. Hotel staff subsequently found the backpack, and when they looked in it on April 18, 2022, they found methamphetamine and a homemade smooth bore .410 gauge pistol. On April 19, 2022, Cam returned to the hotel to claim his property. Cam admitted he had manufactured the firearm. This was a firearm that was required to be registered to him in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record, but it was not registered to him. Cam has a 1995 felony conviction for conspiracy to distribute cocaine base and methamphetamine, a 2017 felony conviction for possessing a firearm as a felon, and multiple assault convictions.
Cam was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams. Cam was sentenced to 60 months’ imprisonment and must also serve a 3-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
