Marijuana User With Loaded Handgun Plead Guilty
Contact: Peter Deegan
A marijuana user who had a loaded handgun in his pocket when he was stopped by Cedar Rapids police officers pled guilty on March 30, 2010, in federal court in Cedar Rapids.
Robert Carter, 34, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was convicted of one count of being an illegal drug user in possession of a firearm.
Carter admitted that, on August 16, 2008, he was an unlawful user of marijuana. That day, he was a passenger in a car that was stopped by the police in Cedar Rapids after a police drug dog alerted earlier to the car and a police officer saw marijuana on the car’s console. When Carter was ordered out of the car, he attempted to reach around to his back right pants pocket. He did not comply when ordered by police officers to stop and had to be subdued by the officers. A loaded semi-automatic 9mm handgun was recovered from Carter’s pocket. The gun had one round in the chamber and several rounds in the magazine.
Under federal law, it is illegal for an unlawful drug user to possess a firearm or ammunition. There is no such prohibition under Iowa law.
Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Carter remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing. Carter 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 the 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 09-80.
