A Great Falls man who illegally possessed guns and ammunition was found guilty by a federal jury on Aug. 27, according to U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme.

Ian Allister Tomlinson, 45, was found guilty of a count of felon in possession of firearms and ammunition after a trial that lasted a day and a half.

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Tomlinson faces 15 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Chief U.S. District Brian M. Morris presided and will determine any sentence after considering federal sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.

Sentencing was set for Dec. 17 and Tomlinson will remain released on conditions pending further proceedings.

Prosecutors alleged that Tomlinson was convicted in the District Court for the First Judicial District of the State of Idaho of felony possession of a controlled substance.

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In July 2024, he appeared in person and was sentenced to a minimum fixed and determinate period of custody of one year followed by an indeterminate period of custody of up to one year, for a total unified sentence not to exceed two years, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The court suspended the sentence for two years and placed Tomlinson on probation for a period of two years. The same day, Tomlinson signed an acceptance of probation statement, acknowledging he understood the conditions of his probation and his supervision was later transferred to the State of Montana Probation and Parole.

In August 2024, Tomlinson signed an acknowledgement that his right to possess or own firearms or ammunition was suspended while on supervision. Specifically, that his right to possess or own firearms or ammunition was suspended while under supervision, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

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He also signed his conditions of probation and parole, which stated he wouldn’t use, own, possess, transfer or be in control of any firearms or ammunition.

On Oct. 4, 2024, a witness contacted the Probation and Parole Office to report that Tomlinson had a gun safe with several guns inside it a local storage unit. Officers located Tomlinson at his place of employment and he provided the combination to the gun safe, admitting he had several firearms in the safe as well as some of his personal paperwork.

Officers located five rifles, six pistols, miscellaneous ammunition, Tomlinson’s passport and other paperwork belonging to him inside the safe. They also recovered surveillance footage from the storage facility showing Tomlinson accessed the storage unit a few days prior to the search.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Starnes prosecuted the case. The investigation was conducted by State of Montana Probation and Parole Office with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Cascade County Sheriff’s Office.