A Waterloo woman who purchased a gun for her friend was sentenced March 15, 2022, to six months in prison.
Destiny Nacole Harrington, age 21, from Waterloo, Iowa, received the prison sentence after a November 8, 2021 guilty plea to making a false statement during the purchase of a firearm.
Information disclosed at sentencing and at her plea hearing showed that, in August 2021, Harrington purchased a 9mm firearm from a business in Cedar Falls, Iowa. During the purchase, Harrington represented to the business that she was purchasing the gun for herself. Harrington was actually buying the firearm for her friend, who was prohibited from possessing guns because he was a felon. Less than 48 hours later, the firearm that Harrington purchased was used by someone else to shoot and kill someone. There is no evidence that Harrington knew the gun was going to be used in the homicide. Harrington has no criminal history.
Harrington was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Harrington was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment, followed by four months of home detention. She must also serve a 3-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ashley Corkery and investigated by the Cedar Falls Police Department, the Waterloo Police Department, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 20-CR-02066.