Federal judge sentences Cape Girardeau man to prison on gun charge

A federal judge has sentenced a Cape Girardeau man to 210 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

U.S. District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. sentenced James W. Mathena, 51, at the federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau on Monday, federal prosecutors said in a news release.

According to court documents, police were dispatched Dec. 15 to a residence in Cape Girardeau after Mathena threatened his elderly parents.

�When officers arrived, Mathena barricaded himself inside the residence and refused to come out,� according to the news release.

After a standoff lasting nearly three hours, Mathena surrendered to police, prosecutors said.

Officers subsequently recovered a shotgun from Mathena�s basement bedroom, the release stated.

Mathena was barred from possessing firearms under federal law because of felony convictions, including a 1988 conviction in federal court in Texas for assaulting a federal officer with a dangerous weapon, according to the release.

Mathena also had felony convictions for robbery, assault, distribution of methamphetamine, driving while intoxicated and unlawful possession of firearms.

The Cape Girardeau Police Department and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack Koester prosecuted the case.