A man who sold three firearms to a confidential informant and assaulted a police officer was sentenced today to more than seven years in federal prison.
Joshua Ray Hunley, age 36, from Waterloo, Iowa, received the prison term after a September 27, 2021 guilty plea to one count of possession of a firearm by a felon.
Information from a plea agreement showed that, in September 2020, Hunley, a convicted felon, sold two rifles and a shotgun to a confidential informant, who Hunley knew to be a felon and a methamphetamine user. About four months later, police officers saw Hunley outside a residence in Waterloo at approximately 11:30 p.m. As an officer was speaking with Hunley, the officer saw a small revolver on the ground by Hunley’s feet. The officer moved to detain Hunley, who tried to flee. During an ensuing struggle, Hunley hit the officer multiple times in the face and head before the officer managed to take Hunley into custody. Officers found $422 in cash, methamphetamine, marijuana, and ammunition on Hunley’s person.
Hunley was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Hunley was sentenced to 87 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.
Hunley is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kyndra Lundquist and investigated by a Federal Task Force composed of the Waterloo Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives assisted by the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office and the Cedar Falls Police Department.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 21-CR-2025.
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