Convicted Felon, Drug User, and Domestic Abuser Heading Back to Prison

Kristen Harrison-Oneal

SIOUX CITY,  IOWA – A man who possessed a loaded pistol was sentenced March 12, 2021, to more than one year in federal prison.

David Devall, age 43, from Sioux City, Iowa, received the prison term after an October 13, 2020, guilty plea to being a felon, drug user and domestic abuse misdemeanant in possession of a firearm and ammunition.  Devall was previously convicted of felony and domestic abuse crimes which made it illegal for him to possess a gun.

Evidence at Devall’s, detention, change of plea, and sentencing hearings revealed that on in the early morning hours of December 17, 2019, officers with the Sioux City, Iowa, police department observed a suspicious vehicle in an area behind a closed business.  An officer in an unmarked vehicle began following the suspicious vehicle, and learned the vehicle was registered to Devall through the license plate.  Shortly thereafter, the vehicle accelerated away and travelled in excess of 65 mph for an unspecified distance. The officers following Devall noted that the vehicle, which had slowed significantly, was making a series of suspicious turns down various streets in Sioux City.  A marked police unit was summoned, which activated its emergency lights and followed the defendant into the drive-through of a closed McDonald’s restaurant, where the vehicle was stopped.  Officers observed the driver, who was later found to be Devall, making movements inside the vehicle, at which time he was ordered to exit the vehicle.  During a search of the car, officers located a black backpack behind the front passenger’s seat, inside of which were two baggies, a jar containing marijuana, a marijuana pipe, a methamphetamine pipe, a scale, methamphetamine, and a loaded 9mm Smith & Wesson handgun. There was a round in the chamber of the gun and 14 rounds in the magazine.

Devall was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand.  Devall was sentenced to 16 months’ imprisonment.  He must also serve a two-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.


Devall is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN).  PSN is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

This case is also part of Project Guardian, the Department of Justice’s signature initiative to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws. Initiated by the Attorney General in the fall of 2019, Project Guardian draws upon the Department’s past successful programs to reduce gun violence; enhances coordination of federal, state, local, and tribal authorities in investigating and prosecuting gun crimes; improves information-sharing by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives when a prohibited individual attempts to purchase a firearm and is denied by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), to include taking appropriate actions when a prospective purchaser is denied by the NICS for mental health reasons; and ensures that federal resources are directed at the criminals posing the greatest threat to our communities. The United States Attorney’s Office has prosecuted this case with support from our Project Guardian partners. For more information about Project Guardian, please see https://www.justice.gov/ag/page/file/1217186/download.

The case was investigated by the Sioux City, Iowa Police Department and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Forde Fairchild.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

The case file number is 20-4007.

Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.

You appear to be using an ad blocker

Shore News Network is a free website that does not use paywalls or charge for access to original, breaking news content. In order to provide this free service, we rely on advertisements. Please support our journalism by disabling your ad blocker for this website.