A man arrested on drug and weapons charges after a Sioux City slaying now faces federal charges.
60-year-old Liborio Martinez-Rubio is charged in U.S. District Court with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug crime.
The Iowa charges, which included six counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm, separate counts of possession of meth, marijuana and drug paraphernalia and two counts of trafficking stolen firearms have been dropped.
Martinez-Rubio was arrested January 11th, within hours after 26-year-old Javier Cheron had been fatally shot.
Sioux City Police say Martinez-Rubio acknowledged ownership of some guns found at the 1609 Jones Street home where investigators think Cheron was shot.
Authorities say one of the guns was among 79 stolen in 2007 from a sporting goods store in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Martinez-Rubio had originally been scheduled to go to trial in Woodbury county on April 3rd.
AP contributed to this story
