Waterloo Men Sent To Federal Prison For Gun Crimes

Two men who illegally possessed concealed handguns following a fight at a Waterloo liquor store will each serve time in federal prison.

Dai’Sean Battles, 21, from Waterloo, will serve almost four years’ in prison following his September 21, 2012 guilty plea to possession of a firearm as a felon. Irvin Johnson Jr., 20, also from Waterloo, was sentenced to over one year imprisonment after his September 18, 2012 guilty plea to possession of a firearm as an unlawful drug user.

According to their plea agreements and information presented at their sentencing hearings, Battles and Johnson were observed by police leaving the scene of a fight at a Waterloo liquor store on May 26, 2012. They flagged down a passing motorist for a ride and got inside the motorist’s vehicle. Battles and Johnson were each carrying concealed loaded firearms. When police initiated a traffic stop on the vehicle, Battles threw a Glock 27 .40 caliber pistol with an obliterated serial number out the window where it was recovered by police. Johnson hid a Browning Buckmark .22 caliber pistol underneath the seat in the vehicle. Battles and Johnson were each on probation at the time; Battles for his 2010 conviction for possessing cocaine with intent to deliver and Johnson for a February 2012 conviction for carrying weapons.

Battles and Johnson were each sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade. Battles was sentenced on January 17, 2013 to 46 months’ imprisonment. Johnson was sentenced on February 5, 2013 to 15 months’ imprisonment, with the sentence running consecutively to a sentence he received as a result of violating his probation. Each must pay a special assessment of $100. They must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after their prison terms. There is no parole in the federal system.

Battles and Johnson are both being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until they can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Justin Lightfoot and was investigated by the Cedar Valley Gang Task Force and a specialized unit of the Waterloo Police Department known as the Violent Crime Apprehension
Team, or VCAT. The Cedar Valley Gang Task Force is comprised of members from
the Waterloo Police Department, Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office, Cedar Falls Police Department, Waverly Police Department, State of Iowa Probation and Parole, and the United States Marshals Service.

Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number for both Battles and Johnson is CR 12-2019.