A woman who lied to Deputy United States Marshals about the location of a federal fugitive was sentenced on Sept. 16, 2016, to 10 months in federal prison.
Vivian Rochelle Weakley, age 28, from Dubuque, Iowa, received the prison term after a June 29, 2016, guilty plea to one count of obstruction of justice.
In a plea agreement, Weakley admitted that on April 19, 2016, she knew Antwain Deshaun Spratt was inside her residence in Dubuque when Deputy United States Marshals arrived at the residence looking to arrest Spratt on an outstanding federal arrest warrant. Weakley falsely denied knowing Spratt, and claimed there was no one else in the home. Shortly thereafter, Spratt was found hiding in an upstairs bedroom closet. An unloaded handgun was found in Spratt’s clothes in a hamper right outside the closet.
Weakley was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade. Weakley was sentenced to 10 months’ imprisonment. A special assessment of $100 was imposed. She must also serve a 3-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Weakley was released on the bond previously set and is to surrender to the United States Marshal in October 2016.
The case is being investigated by the United States Marshals Service and the Dubuque Police Department, and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dan Chatham.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 16-CR-30-LRR.
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
