A Waterloo man who illegally possessed a firearm as a drug user was sentenced May 16, 2022, to more than a year in federal prison.
Kierin Craig Johnson, age 24, from Waterloo, Iowa, received the prison term after an October 15, 2021 guilty plea to possession of a firearm by a drug user.
Information disclosed at sentencing showed that, in September and October 2019, Johnson posted several videos to social media showing him smoking marijuana and possessing a gun. Johnson also posted videos advertising the sale of marijuana. On October 18, 2019, law enforcement searched Johnson’s home, which he shared with his brother, and recovered evidence of marijuana distribution throughout the residence. While officers were searching, Johnson arrived home and officers seized a loaded handgun from a vehicle associated with Johnson. After his arrest, Johnson admitted to smoking marijuana for several years, and his urine specimen tested positive for marijuana and other substances.
Johnson was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Johnson was sentenced to 12 months’ and 1 day imprisonment. He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system. Johnson was released on the bond previously set and is to surrender to the United States Marshal on May 31, 2022.
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.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dillan Edwards and investigated by the Waterloo 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-02045.
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