Felon gets prison term for firearm possession

Published 8:37 am Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Ramiro Alejandro Pena, 21

Ramiro Alejandro Pena, 21, of Austin was sentenced on Thursday in Mower County District Court to 60 months in the Minnesota Correctional Facility in St. Cloud for felony violent felon in possession of a firearm.

Judge Christa M. Daily issued the sentence.

Pena was arrested on July 20, 2017, while police were investigating a shooting that occurred in the morning hours of July 8, 2017, in the 800 block of Second Avenue Southwest. Jesus Alejandro Ybarra Jr., who is currently serving a 7 ½ year prison sentence for first-degree drug possession of 50 or more grams of cocaine or methamphetamine, was injured in the shooting.

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On the morning of the shooting, officers conducted a search warrant at a residence in the 800 block of Second Avenue Southwest. They found a loaded Stevens Model 350 12 gauge shotgun in the house.

Police executed another search warrant on July 20, 2017, at the same residence and caught Pena trying to exit through the back door. While in jail, Pena admitted that he was in possession of the shotgun on the night of the shooting.

A review of Pena’s criminal history shows prior convictions for giving a peace officer a false name, rioting, intentional damage to property and terroristic threats.