cedar rapids felon guilty to possessing gun
Contact:Peter Deegan
A felon who talked about suicide by officer and who possessed a firearm pled guilty today in federal court in Cedar Rapids.
Joseph Tamborello, 35, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was convicted of one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Information provided to the court showed Tamborello was convicted of felony Operating While Intoxicated on May 11, 2000. On April 5, 2006, at 4:52 a.m., Cedar Rapids police officers found Tamborello wearing a bulletproof vest, talking about suicide by officer, and wanting to be committed. He was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital and said there were children alone at a residence. Officers did a welfare check on the children and found five long guns and a muzzle-loader rifle. Two of the children said Tamborello had at least one of the guns earlier, was trying to load it, and was talking about suicide by officer.
Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Tamborello remains in the custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing. Tamborello faces a possible maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a $100 special assessment, and 3 years of supervised release following any imprisonment.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Bob Teig as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a cooperative local, state, and federal program aimed at the enhanced prosecution of gun crimes. The case was investigated by the Cedar Rapids Police Department and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is CR 10-28.
