Cedar Rapids Man Pleads Guilty to Being a Felon in Possession of a Firearm

A felon who possessed a firearm pled guilty today in federal court in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Malachi Patton Handley, age 23, of Cedar Rapids, was convicted of one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.  At the plea hearing, Handley admitted that, between December 2022 and March 2023, he possessed an SCCY pistol after having been convicted of three felonies.

Sentencing before United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams will be set after a presentence report is prepared.  Handley remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing.  Handley faces a possible maximum sentence of fifteen years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release following any imprisonment.

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.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark Tremmel and was investigated by the Cedar Rapids Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Marion Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. 

The case file number is CR 23-57.

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