Cedar Rapids Felon and Domestic Abuser Sentenced to Federal Prison for Unlawfully Possessing a Firearm

A man who unlawfully possessed a loaded handgun in April 2015 was sentenced on December 31, 2015, to seven years in federal prison.

Darius Devon Flowers, age 26, from Cedar Rapids, received the prison term after a September 4, 2015, guilty plea to being a felon and domestic abuser in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

At the guilty plea hearing, Flowers admitted that prior to possessing the loaded handgun in April 2015, he had previously been convicted of two felony offenses and two misdemeanor domestic abuse offenses. Prior public filings show that on April 22, 2015, Cedar Rapids police was dispatched to a call of a male in possession of a firearm.  A witness at the scene reported Flowers, who appeared to be intoxicated, displaying a firearm while informing a female to call him if she needed him to “handle anything.”  The female called the Cedar Rapids Police Department and provided a description of the vehicle in which Flowers was a passenger.  Cedar Rapids Police found the vehicle shortly thereafter, and found the loaded handgun underneath Flowers’s seat.

Flowers was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade.  Flowers was sentenced to 84 months’ imprisonment.  A special assessment of $100 was imposed.  He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Flowers is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was investigated by the Cedar Rapids Safe Street Task Force.  The task force is composed of representatives from the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Drug Enforcement Administration; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; United States Marshals Service; Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation; Cedar Rapids Police Department; Marion Police Department; Sixth Judicial District Department of Correctional Services; Linn County Sheriff’s Office; and Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dan Chatham.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.  The case file numbers are 15-CR-0068-LRR and 15-MJ-00189.

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