Sandpoint Man Pleads Guilty to Unlawful Possession of Firearm

COEUR D’ALENE—Joshua Christopher Gervasi, 19, of Sandpoint, Idaho, pleaded guilty today in United States District to one count of unlawful possession of a firearm, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. Gervasi was indicted by a federal grand jury in Coeur d’Alene on September 18, 2012.

According to statements made in court, on August 27, 2012, Gervasi was pulled over by a Bonner County sheriff’s officer for a traffic offense. During the stop, Gervasi was asked if there was anything illegal in the vehicle. Gervasi admitted that he concealed a loaded handgun under a shirt as he was being pulled-over. The deputy retrieved the firearm, a loaded Smith and Wesson 9mm pistol. The deputy verified that Gervasi was prohibited from possessing firearms due to a February 17, 2012, conviction for possession of a controlled substance, in Bonner County, Idaho, a felony offense punishable by a term of imprisonment exceeding one year.

The charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release.

Gervasi is scheduled to be sentenced on March 5, 2013, at the federal courthouse in Coeur d’Alene.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office. Gervasi was prosecuted as a part of Idaho’s Project Safe Neighborhood Program, which seeks to reduce gun violence in Idaho.