ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis man appeared in federal court on Wednesday to be sentenced after being repeatedly caught with a firearm.
Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri said Stephen Joseph Diani, 49, pleaded guilty in June to two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Diani admitted being caught with a gun on three different occasions.
On Sept. 8, 2021, St. Louis County police officers questioned Diani about the car he was driving because the license plate was not registered to the vehicle. Police found a 9mm handgun between the driver’s side door and seat. They also discovered plastic bags containing cocaine base and heroin.
More than two weeks later, on Sept. 23, county police answered calls about a suspected prowler checking car doors. Officers arrived and located Diani inside someone else’s SUV. Diani was arrested, and police found a .223-caliber rifle and tools that had been reported stolen that evening.
Finally, in December 2021 and January 2022, police in St. Louis City and Shrewsbury were investigating burglaries in the area and keeping an eye on Diani’s use of a storage unit at A1 U-Store off of Watson Road. Investigators believed he was storing stolen items in the storage unit and selling them online.
On Jan. 12, 2022, Shrewsbury officers saw Diani at the facility and requested assistance from St. Louis police with the arrest.
Diani attempted to close the door of his storage unit, but an officer prevented him from doing so. Diani, who had a gun with him, barricaded himself in his storage unit and told the police to kill him several times. There was another man inside the storage unit, but police convinced Diani to release that individual. However, as that man left the storage unit, police jumped over the barricade and arrested Diani.
A U.S. District Court judge sentenced Diani to 13 years and nine months in federal prison.