Tekamah Man Sentenced to 96 Months on Firearm Charges

Acting United States Attorney Steven Russell announced that Tanner Joel Leichleiter, 32, of Tekamah, Nebraska, was sentenced today in federal court in Omaha for being a drug user and addict in possession of 10 firearms, to include an assault rifle.  United States District Judge Brian C. Buescher sentenced Leichleiter to 96 months’ imprisonment.  There is no parole in the federal system.  After completing his term of imprisonment, Leichleiter will begin a 3-year term of supervised release.

Leichleiter previously pleaded guilty to being a drug user in possession of firearms on August 23, 2021. 

On April 20, 2020, Leichleiter’s co-defendant, Nora Gilda Guevara-Triana, requested that Leichleiter take her two grandchildren, ages 4 and 7, without car seats or shoes from Tekamah to Kansas to teach their mother a lesson.  Leichleiter loaded the children into the vehicle, along with marijuana, a pit bull, and 10 firearms that were scattered throughout the vehicle.  Drugs and guns were within reach of the children throughout the interstate trip.  An Amber Alert was issued and Leichleiter was located with the children after a farmer in the area recognized Leichleiter and his vehicle from the alert.  Guevara-Triana was found guilty by a jury of the kidnapping and previously received a sentence of 100 months in federal prison on February 23, 2022.  

At his sentencing hearing, Leichleiter disputed that the circumstances of his firearm possession amounted to child abuse for a sentence enhancement, but the United States District Judge disagreed and found that Leichleiter had “no regard” for the children’s safety and that his case was an extreme example of illegal firearms possession.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Tekamah Police Department, Sedgwick County Sheriff, and Wichita Police Department.