Joseph Goin Sentenced to Federal Prison for Gun Crime

BOISE – Joseph Sterling Goin, 24, of Caldwell, Idaho, was sentenced today to 24 months in prison by Senior U.S. District Court Judge Edward J. Lodge, U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced.  Judge Lodge also ordered Goin to serve three years of supervised release upon his release from federal prison. 

On October 17, 2017, Goin pleaded guilty to unlawfully possessing a firearm.  Goin sold a semi-automatic rifle with a high-capacity magazine to an undercover police officer at a gas station parking lot on April 3, 2017.  At the time, Goin had previously been convicted of felony crimes including a burglary conviction from Canyon County, Idaho, on March 13, 2013.  Goin was prohibited from possessing firearms because of that felony burglary conviction. 

This investigation is the result of an investigation and enforcement operation by the Treasure Valley Metro Violent Crime Task Force which is comprised of federal, state and local agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the United States Marshals Service; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations; the Idaho Department of Corrections Office of Probation and Parole; the Ada County Sheriff’s Office, the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office; the Nampa City Police Department; the Caldwell City Police Department; and the Boise City Police Department. 

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a nationwide initiative originally launched in May 2001 and reinvigorated in 2017 by the Department of Justice to combat gun violence in the United States. Project Safe Neighborhoods marshals federal, state, and local resources to target and prosecute those who commit gun crimes.  For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, visit https://www.bja.gov.