A man who distributed marijuana and possessed a firearm was sentenced today to six years in federal prison.
Tyran Collins, age 19, from Waterloo, Iowa, received the prison term after a May 4, 2018 guilty plea to possession of a firearm and ammunition as a drug user, possession with intent to distribute marijuana, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
In a plea agreement, Collins admitted that on Oct. 29, 2017, he was an unlawful user of marijuana, and that he possessed a loaded 9mm handgun. Collins also admitted he possessed eleven individual bags of marijuana, totaling 26 grams. Collins admitted he intended to distribute the marijuana to other individuals. Law enforcement discovered the marijuana and handgun when they stopped a car in which Collins was a passenger. During the traffic stop, Collins threw the gun onto the driver’s lap and instructed her to hide it. Police later recovered the gun in the center console of the car and learned that it had previously been reported stolen.
Collins was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by Chief United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand. Collins was sentenced to 72 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), a program that has been historically successful in bringing together all levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has made turning the tide of rising violent crime in America a top priority. In October 2017, as part of a series of actions to address this crime trend, Attorney General Sessions announced the reinvigoration of PSN and directed all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to develop a district crime reduction strategy that incorporates the lessons learned since PSN launched in 2001.
Collins 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 Lisa C. Williams and was investigated by a Federal Task Force composed of the Waterloo Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, 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 17-CR-2091.
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
