Dubuque man convicted of federal firearm charge

A Dubuque man has pleaded guilty to a federal firearm charge after police said officers found him in a vehicle with a loaded, stolen firearm near his feet. 32-year-old Nicholas Welter was convicted of one count of possession of a firearm by a felon in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa states that the charge stems from an incident on Oct. 18. Welter has prior felony convictions for second-degree theft and third-degree burglary. Welter faces a possible maximum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release following any imprisonment.