federal prison for mobile men with marijuana and gun at motel
Contact: Peter Deegan
A marijuana user who possessed a handgun at a Cedar Rapids, Iowa, motel was sentenced today to more than a year in federal prison.
Brandon Shute, age 27, from Mobile, Alabama, received the prison term after a July 14, 2010, guilty plea to one count of being an illegal drug user in possession of a handgun.
On November 23, 2008, an employee at a Cedar Rapids motel where Shute was staying called the police because of the odor of marijuana coming from Shute’s room. Police officers talked to Shute, and he let them search his room. He admitted smoking marijuana that morning but said it was gone. Officers found marijuana in a boot in Shute’s room and a stolen 9mm pistol in his car.
Under federal law, an illegal drug user may not possess a firearm or ammunition. There is no such prohibition under Iowa law.
Shute was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade. Shute was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment, and a $100 special assessment 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.
Shute 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 CR 09-81.
