A Cedar Rapids man who possessed an AR-15 style rifle was sentenced December 7, 2021, to two years in federal prison.
John Douglas Clark, age 61, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after a July 9, 2021 guilty plea to one-count of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.
Information at sentencing showed that, in April 2020, Clark kept a Palmetto State Armory PA-15 rifle in a gun safe located in his basement. On April 4, 2020, Clark brought the rifle to his place of employment, where he was observed on security camera with a co-worker possessing and handling the firearm, even kissing it. Clark was prohibited from possessing firearms because he was a methamphetamine user and a felon. Clark had previously been convicted in federal court of manufacturing and attempting to manufacture fifty grams or more of methamphetamine.
Clark was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Clark was sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment. He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
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.
Clark was released on the bond previously set and is to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on a date yet to be set.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dillan Edwards and investigated by the Cedar Rapids Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 20-CR-00086.
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