Waterloo Gang Member Found with Loaded, Stolen Gun Sentenced to Federal Prison

A man who was found with a loaded stolen firearm during a traffic stop was sentenced October 12, 2022, to more than three years in federal prison.

Sir Frank Nelson III, age 27, from Waterloo, Iowa, received the prison term after a May 18, 2022 guilty plea to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

In a plea agreement, Nelson admitted that on June 28, 2020, he was in possession of marijuana and a stolen Smith and Wesson M&P .40 caliber firearm with five rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber.  At sentencing, the court found that Nelson was a member of the A1/Front Street criminal street gang in Waterloo.  The court also stated that Nelson had no business touching a firearm as he was prohibited.

Nelson was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams.  Nelson was sentenced to 37 months’ imprisonment and fined $100.  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 is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

Nelson 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 Liz Dupuich and was investigated by a Federal Task Force composed of the Waterloo Police Department’s Violent Crime Apprehension Team (VCAT), 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 21-cr-2024.

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