Marijuana User Who Illegally Possessed a Gun Sentenced to Two Years in Federal Prison

A man who illegally possessed a firearm was sentenced April 3, 2019, to two years in federal prison.

Trevon Parham-Holmes, age 20, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after an October 30, 2019, guilty plea to possession of a firearm and ammunition by a drug user.

Evidence during the case established that police tried to stop a car in Waterloo after receiving that information that one of the occupants was fighting with an area gang.  The car ignored the police, failed to stop, and led officers on a pursuit, during which the occupants of the vehicle, including Parham-Holmes, threw multiple guns from the car.  The gun Parham-Holmes possessed had previously been stolen. 

Parham-Holmes was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C. J. Williams.  Parham-Holmes was sentenced to 24 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).  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.

Parham-Holmes was released on the bond previously set and is to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on a date yet to be set.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lisa C. Williams and investigated by 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 Cedar Falls Police Department.. 

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

The case file number is 18-CR-2049.

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