A Mason City man will spend more than 21 years in prison after he traded his dog for a gun. Court records show 58-year-old Billy Douglas Thorne traded his dog for a .22 caliber rifle that he intended to use to shoot his son.
He was afraid the gun would be found at his home and asked others to hide it in a Mason City park. Thorne was arrested on harassment charges and police confiscated the gun. A jury found him guilty of one count of possession of a firearm by a felon.
Thorne had been convicted in Florida on five felony counts of burglary and one felony count of armed burglary in 1997. He was sentenced to 262 months in federal prison.