“Car Hopping” Lands Felon in Federal Prison for Over Seven Years for Possessing a Stolen Gun

A convicted felon who went “car hopping” with others in Alburnett, Iowa, and possessed a stolen gun was sentenced today to more than seven years in federal prison.

Sejuan Walker, age 22, from Marion, Iowa, received the prison term after a July 25, 2018, guilty plea to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Information from the sentencing hearing showed that on January 28, 2018, Walker and two others went “car hopping” in Alburnett, a town in rural Linn County, Iowa.  Their “car hopping” involved going from parked car to parked car to see which cars were unlocked.  After finding an unlocked car, the three searched the car to find any valuables.  One of the three found a handgun in a pickup truck and stole it and a wallet from the truck.  Walker later used a debit card from that wallet to make purchases at the Wal-Mart in Anamosa.

Law enforcement officers located Walker at an apartment building in Coralville, Iowa, on February 1, 2018.  As officers were approaching him, Walker went into the apartment building and then out a back door.  Officers later located the handgun stolen from Alburnett in a clothes dryer located in the common area of the apartment building.  At his plea hearing, Walker admitted he possessed that handgun on February 1.

Walker was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge Linda R. Reade.  Walker was sentenced to 87 months’ imprisonment.  He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that has been historically successful in bringing together all levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.   The Department of Justice has made turning the tide of rising violent crime in America a top priority.   In October 2017, as part of a series of actions to address this crime trend, the Department of Justice announced the reinvigoration of PSN and directed all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to develop a district crime reduction strategy that incorporates the lessons learned since PSN launched in 2001.

Walker is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anthony Morfitt and investigated by the Linn County Sheriff’s Office. 

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. 

The case file number is 18-cr-55.

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