Convicted Felon Sent Back to Prison for Possessing 2 Guns

COLUMBUS, Neb. - A Columbus man will be heading back to prison just a few months after being paroled from the state prison system. 25-year-old Derrik Zollars was sentenced to five to eight years in prison for attempting to possess a firearm for a second time. Police say they found two guns, including an AK-47 and another rifle, inside a city storage unit where Zollars was living in May. He was paroled from prison in March from an array of convictions, including: attempted firearm possession, meth possession and first-degree sexual assault of a minor. He has spent the vast majority of his adult life behind bars, and was frequently housed in state correctional facilities as a juvenile. Zollars faced a max sentence of 50 years in prison. The prosecution argued that Zollars should be put away for an 'appropriate sentence' considering all of his past felony convictions. Kaz Long, the appointed attorney for Zollars, said that one of the guns found in the garage was not an AK-47, but a 100 year old antique gun that was owned by his brother. Long also said that while Zollars did make a mistake, he argued that the crime was not violent and that he may not even know how to act in a free society, since he has already done so much time in prison. "He didn't know what it was like to not be living with 30-40 guys all the time. He felt lonely, he felt depressed and to be quite honest with you maybe he kept that gun because subconsciously he wanted to go back," says Long. Zollars will get credit for 142 days already served and his sentence could be cut in half with Good Time laws, with good behavior.