JANESVILLE — A 35-year-old Janesville man arrested last year as part of a drug investigation has been sentenced to seven years in federal prison for possession of a firearm as a felon.
According to a press release, the prison term for Kyle Richards will be followed by a 3-year term of supervised release. Richards pleaded guilty to this charge on Jan. 18.
The Janesville Police Department executed a search warrant at Richard’s apartment in Janesville in May 2023, as part of an ongoing drug investigation.
In the living room, officers found cocaine, drug scales, and tools for cooking crack cocaine. Inside a bathroom closet, officers located four firearms and ammunition. In addition, on Richards’s phone, officers found a video showing Richards with several firearms inside of that same bathroom, according to the release.
Richards was prohibited from legally possessing a firearm as a result of several felony convictions, including a 2015 conviction for possessing a firearm as a felon.
Richards was on state supervision for that conviction at the time of the conduct in this case. The sentence imposed in this case will run concurrently with a five-year prison sentence he received for violating that supervision.
At sentencing, the judge noted that Richards’s drug distribution undercut any suggestion that he was merely an addict supporting an addiction. The judge also noted how the combination of drugs and firearms created a risk of violence, according to the release.