Waterloo Felon Twice Convicted of Being a Felon in Possession of a Firearm Sentenced to Prison for Possessing Ammunition

A Waterloo felon who possessed 65 rounds of ammunition in a senior citizen home was sentenced December 18, 2018, to more than two years in federal prison.           

Robert Donzell Luckie, age 20, from Waterloo, Iowa, received the prison term after an August 14, 2018 guilty plea to being a felon in possession of ammunition.

Evidence at detention and sentencing hearings showed that in March 2017, Luckie received a suspended sentence in state court for possessing a firearm as a felon.  In April 2017, a law enforcement officer saw a Facebook photograph of defendant with a .40 caliber handgun, which he was trying to sell.  Luckie further posted on Facebook that he had been smoking marijuana all day by “blowing woods.”  Luckie’s state probation officer then conducted an unexpected home visit of Luckie’s residence, which was an apartment in a senior citizen home in Waterloo.  During a search of Luckie’s room, officers found 65 rounds of .40 caliber ammunition and marijuana.  A receipt for the ammunition then led law enforcement officers to a local sporting goods store, which provided law enforcement with a surveillance video that showed Luckie grabbing a box of .40 caliber ammunition and handing it to a woman who purchased the ammunition.  Law enforcement ultimately apprehended Luckie in May 2017 in Chicago, Illinois, where he was found with a different gun and convicted of possessing a firearm as a felon.

Luckie was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge Linda R. Reade.  Luckie was sentenced to 27 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.  At the sentencing, Judge Reade found Luckie posed a high risk to reoffend in light of his strong desire to possess firearms and ammunition notwithstanding the fact he is a felon.

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.

Luckie 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 Tim Vavricek and investigated by the Waterloo Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 

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

The case file number is 17-CR-2036

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