A prohibited person who possessed a firearm pled guilty today in federal court in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Rakeem Leonard, age 30, from Cedar Rapids, was convicted of one count of being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm. At the plea hearing, Leonard admitted that, on July 19, 2021, he possessed a Taurus 9mm pistol after having been convicted of two felonies and while he was subject to a no contact order.
Sentencing before United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Leonard remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing. Leonard faces a possible maximum sentence of ten years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release following any imprisonment.
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 being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark Tremmel and is being investigated by the High Risk Unit of the Sixth Judicial District Department of Correctional Services, the Cedar Rapids Police Department, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is CR 21-53.
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