A rural Mercer County man will serve seven years in federal prison for illegal possession of a firearm by a felon. The Department of Justice announced the sentence against 27 year old Steven Austin Adams stemming from a July of 2017 arrest. The charge involved a Smith & Wesson .45 caliber pistol. The DOJ release says that Adams admitted possessing the gun in connection with drug trafficking activity. At the time, he had a prior felony conviction for meth conspiracy in 2012 in Mercer County. The former Kiethsburg man pleaded guilty to the federal charge last March.
The case was investigated by the Mercer County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI Quad Cities Federal Gang Task Force. And the case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s office in cooperation with the Mercer County State’s Attorney’s Office.
