Unlawful Drug User Sentenced to Over Eight Years in Federal Prison for Possessing a Gun

An unlawful drug user who possessed a handgun was sentenced today to more than eight years in federal prison.

Oluwadurotim Orebiyi, age 29, from Florissant, Missouri, received the prison term after a May 20, 2019 guilty plea to one count of being an unlawful drug user in possession of a firearm.

Information from the guilty plea and sentencing hearings showed that Orebiyi, who was an unlawful user of marijuana, possessed a gun that was found by Waterloo, Iowa, police during a traffic stop.  After pleading guilty to that offense, Orebiyi was pending sentencing in December 2019, but he failed to appear for sentencing.  Six days after his scheduled sentencing, he was arrested in Missouri after pounding on a residence door to try and get it, threatening to kill the person inside, and firing two rounds through the door. 

Orebiyi was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams.  Orebiyi was sentenced to 103 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.

Orebiyi 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 Attorneys Jacob Schunk and Tony Morfitt and 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-2072.

Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.