Has Multiple Prior Convictions for Burglary and Assault
A Waterloo felon who unlawfully possessed a gun was sentenced today to 30 months in prison.
Dreyon Damondre Grant, age 27, from Waterloo, Iowa, received the prison sentence today following a plea to possession of a firearm by a felon.
Information disclosed at sentencing and at his plea hearing showed that in July 2019, Grant got into a dispute with another man at an apartment complex in Waterloo. The other man accused Grant of stealing money from him and a friend. When the victim confronted Grant, Grant came out of his apartment unit holding a knife and pointing it at the victim. After the victim refused to leave, Grant called his friend to help scare the victim. A short time later, Grant’s friend came over with a gun. Grant tried to scare the victim away with the gun. The victim called 911. Police responded and located the gun Grant possessed. No one was injured in the dispute. Grant has a prior felony conviction for burglary. He has also prior convictions for assault, including one conviction for assaulting a peace officer.
Grant was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Grant was sentenced to 30 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.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ashley Corkery. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) through a cooperative effort of the Waterloo Police Department, Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office, Federal Bureau of Investigations Safe Streets Unit, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. 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.
This case is also part of Project Guardian, the Department of Justice’s signature initiative to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws. Initiated by the Attorney General in the fall of 2019, Project Guardian draws upon the Department’s past successful programs to reduce gun violence; enhances coordination of federal, state, local, and tribal authorities in investigating and prosecuting gun crimes; improves information-sharing by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives when a prohibited individual attempts to purchase a firearm and is denied by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), to include taking appropriate actions when a prospective purchaser is denied by the NICS for mental health reasons; and ensures that federal resources are directed at the criminals posing the greatest threat to our communities. For more information about Project Guardian, please see https://www.justice.gov/ag/page/file/1217186/download.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 19-CR-2060.
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
