Jury Convicts Sioux City Man of Interstate Stalking and Using a Firearm During the Offense

A man who stalked his estranged wife and transported her from South Sioux City Nebraska to Sioux City, Iowa was convicted by a jury on November 30, 2012, after a 5– day trial in federal court in Sioux City.

Ralph Rogers, age, 24 from Sioux City, was convicted of interstate stalking and using a firearm during the offense. The verdict was returned following about seven hours of jury deliberations. On September 7, 2012, defendant pled guilty to two other crimes: (1) being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition and (2) failing appear after pre–trial release. The jury acquitted Rogers of the crimes of kidnaping and possession of a firearm in furtherance of the kidnaping.

Evidence presented at trial and plea hearing showed the following. On December 5, 2012, Rogers was tracking his estranged wife’s movements with a GPS application that he had secretly placed on her car while she was at work. When her car came to a stop at her new residence, Rogers armed himself with a hand gun, drove from Iowa to Nebraska, entered her home without permission, punched, kicked, and pistol–whipped one of the three people in the house at the time, and transported her to Roger’s home in Iowa.

Sentencing before United States District Court Judge Donald E. O’Brien will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Rogers remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing. Rogers faces a possible maximum sentence of 30 years’ imprisonment, a $650,000 fine, $300 in special assessments, and 3 years of supervised release following any imprisonment.

Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is 11–4022.

This case is being prosecuted as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a cooperative local, state, and federal program aimed at the enhanced prosecution of gun crimes. The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Dakota County, Nebraska, Sheriff’s Office, and the Sioux City, Iowa, Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Forde Fairchild.