cedar rapids man pleads guilty tolying to buy shotgun
Contact: Peter Deegan
A man who lied to buy a shotgun for a friend who was prohibited from having a gun pled guilty today in federal court in Cedar Rapids.
Melvin Rivers, Jr., age 20, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was convicted of one count of making a false statement intended to deceive a federal firearms licensee.
Rivers’ co-defendant, Brandon Lewis, was charged with domestic abuse, and a no-contact order was issued against him on March 25, 2010. Because of the order, he could not legally possess a gun or ammunition. On March 31, 2010, Lewis and Rivers went to a federal firearms licensee’s store in Cedar Rapids and Lewis started to fill out paperwork to buy a shotgun. The two left the store before Lewis finished the paperwork and then returned. Rivers then bought the shotgun. In buying the gun, Rivers filled out the required paperwork and falsely stated he was the actual buyer of the shotgun. Rivers bought the gun on Lewis’ behalf. Rivers got the money from Lewis, and Lewis said since the money was his, the gun was his. Rivers left the gun with Lewis.
Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Rivers remains on bond pending sentencing. Rivers 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 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 10-119.
