MADISON — A Monticello man with a lengthy criminal history and a disregard for conditions of probation was sentenced Friday in federal court to 3.5 years in prison for possession of ammunition as a felon.

Justin W. Wenger, 38, was on probation when he stole a box of .223 caliber in January from Farm and Fleet in Monroe. Wenger said he was unemployed at the time and he was getting ammunition for his son who wanted to hunt coyotes.

Monticello and Monroe police connected Wenger to the ammunition theft and a search of his residence located 56 firearms including eight under the bed he slept in. The $700 AR-15 that Wenger had purchased through a friend was found in his son’s room with the stolen ammunition, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Corey Stephan.

Wenger said he was living in his father’s house and the guns located there were his dad’s, his brother’s, and his son’s.

“I come from a hunting family…and my dad was a long-term gun collector,” Wenger told U.S. District Judge James Peterson.

Most of the guns were locked in a gun safe but it couldn’t contain the entire collection, he added.

Wenger also told Peterson that he didn’t know that his prior convictions for burglary, theft of firearms and obstructing an officer made it unlawful for him to possess ammunition. 

Peterson called the stolen ammunition “the tip of the iceberg,” in the case that involved “a ton of guns,” which Wenger said he knew were unlawful for him to possess.

Peterson reminded Wenger that he didn’t have to own a gun to possess it and that sleeping with eight guns under his bed certainly constituted possessing or controlling a firearm.

“You committed a felony every night you went to bed,” Peterson said.

While Wenger faced a maximum of eight years in prison under the advisory sentencing guidelines, his attorney, Murali Jasti, asked for a sentence of three to four years. He told Peterson that his client’s probation has been revoked and he has been charged in Green County Circuit Court with possession of a firearm as a felon for the AR-15 seized in the search.

“Mr. Wenger’s public defender has said that (District Attorney Craig) Nolen feels the time should be significant,” Jasti told Peterson.

Peterson replied that he usually expects the state to drop charges in cases referred to federal court. Also, while Wenger was charged federally with unlawful ammunition possession, the firearms in the case are factored into his punishment in the sentencing guidelines.

In cases where there is a strong overlap between state and federal charges, Peterson said he tries to avoid the “state piling onto the federal sentence.”

Peterson made the sentence he imposed to run concurrent to any sentence Wenger receives in his Green County firearms case.

Before he was sentenced, Wenger told Peterson that despite his methamphetamine addiction and frequent problems with the law, he had been a landscape supervisor until the company owner was shot and the business closed. Afterward, he tried to start his own property maintenance firm.

“I made a huge mistake in taking the ammunition. I ask you to let me become a productive member of society. I have three children…and parents who rely on me. I’ll get the help and support I need,” he said.

Wenger’s problems go beyond the ammunition theft, Peterson said. His drug addiction, plus a two-decades long criminal record, shows he has juvenile’s regard for the law, Peterson said.

“You have to take your probation seriously and you haven’t so far. It’s your responsibility to keep your butt out of jail,” the judge said.

Wenger has been in custody for 10 months after his probation was revoked. He has Nov. 3 and Nov. 11 proceedings in Green County court on his firearms charges.