Timothy T. Duax U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa
A Dubuque woman has been sentenced to over a year in federal prison for her involvement in purchasing and concealing a firearm used by her brother in a shooting incident. Delicia Lee, 36, from Dubuque, Iowa, received the sentence on February 10, 2025, following her guilty plea on September 17, 2024, to tampering with evidence.
Court proceedings revealed that in March 2023, Lee bought a Walther CCP M2, 9mm gun from a local business under the pretense it was for herself. In reality, she purchased it for her brother Marvin Brantley, who is a convicted felon. Weeks later, Brantley fired the gun during an altercation outside a bar in Dubuque but no injuries were reported. He then hid the weapon before being arrested on related state charges.
During phone calls from jail, Brantley instructed Lee on how to find and dispose of the gun. She subsequently transported it to Chicago and admitted its location to investigators after they searched her home. At law enforcement's request, she surrendered the firearm one week later.
Further investigations uncovered that between 2017 and 2020, Lee had acquired 15 guns in Indiana for individuals prohibited from buying them. More than half of these firearms were later involved in criminal activities such as homicide and robbery; some remain unrecovered.
Marvin Brantley was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and received a sentence of 145 months' imprisonment for his actions related to the shooting.
Chief United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams sentenced Lee in Cedar Rapids to sixteen months' imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release. The federal system does not allow parole.
The case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), which aims to reduce violent crime and gun violence through collaboration among law enforcement agencies and communities. The initiative focuses on building trust within communities, supporting organizations that prevent violence, setting strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring outcomes.
Assistant United States Attorney Ashley Corkery prosecuted the case with investigations conducted by the Dubuque Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
