19-Year-Old gets almost 5 years in federal prison for gun
Contact: Peter Deegan
A Cedar Rapids felon and marijuana user who possessed a handgun was sentenced today to almost five years in federal prison.
Robert Essex, 19, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after an October 9, 2009, guilty plea to one count of being a felon and illegal drug user in possession of a firearm.
At the guilty plea, Essex admitted he received a deferred judgment on January 16, 2009, in Poweshiek County, Iowa, for Burglary in the 3rd Degree and was placed on probation until January 2011. On May 16, 2009, he was an unlawful user of marijuana and was in a car stopped in Cedar Rapids on a traffic violation. Essex had marijuana and ecstacy pills and possessed a loaded .22 handgun for protection. Essex said he was going to sell the ecstacy pills at a post-prom party.
Under federal law, an illegal drug user may not possess a firearm or ammunition. There is no such prohibition under Iowa law.
Essex was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade. Essex was sentenced to 57 months’ imprisonment, and a special assessment of $100 was imposed. He must also serve a 3-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Essex is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
This case was 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.
Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is 09-56.
