A woman convicted of a pair of federal firearm offenses appeared in a Rockford, Ill., court to receive her sentence -- 25 years late.

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"I thought the case was closed," Jacqueline McCartney, 52, told U.S. District Judge Philip Reinhard as she stood in orange jail dungarees in front of the judge's bench with a prosecutor and a defense attorney to her left.

"It's open," Reinhard said.

McCartney was picked up by federal marshals in Iowa last week and brought back to Rockford, where she was convicted in 1979 of illegally transferring a sawed-off shotgun and a rifle.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John McKenzie would not say how McCartney was found, The Rockford Register Star reported.

A sentencing question came up, though. McCartney was convicted before federal sentencing guidelines were in place.

Reinhard asked McKenzie and public defender Haneef Omar to recommend McCartney's sentencing by Nov. 15.

"You can work together and file one thing, but if you have opposing views, you can file separately," Reinhard said.