Has Multiple Prior Felony Convictions, Including a Prior Federal Felony for Selling Crack Cocaine
A Cedar Rapids man who sold methamphetamine and was involved in a February 6, 2017 shooting in Cedar Rapids was sentenced today to more than 24 years in federal prison.
Jerry Dean Love, age 40, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after an Aug. 1, 2018, guilty plea to one count of distribution of methamphetamine after a prior felony drug conviction and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
In a plea agreement and at the guilty plea, Love admitted he sold 99% pure methamphetamine to an individual working with law enforcement on Oct. 26, 2016. Love also admitted that he had a firearm on February 6, 2017, when he drove to a gas station located on Edgewood Road SW, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and shot the gun in the direction of Johnson Avenue. Love admitted that when he was subsequently taken into custody by a Cedar Rapids police officer, he had the gun, numerous rounds of ammunition, and more methamphetamine he planned to sell. Love admitted he had prior state felony convictions for manufacture and delivery of cocaine base and extortion/ terrorism. Love also admitted he had a prior federal felony conviction for distribution of cocaine base near a school.
Love was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge Linda R. Reade. Love was sentenced to 292 months’ imprisonment. He must also serve an 8-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Love 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 Patrick Reinert and Special Assistant United States Attorney Drew Inman and was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Task Force consisting of the DEA; the Linn County Sheriff's Office; the Cedar Rapids Police Department; the Marion Police Department; and the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement.
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.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 17-CR-00012-LRR.
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
