Cedar Rapids Drug User Sentenced to Nearly Five Years for Possessing a Stolen Gun

A Cedar Rapids drug user who possessed a stolen gun was sentenced May 14, 2019, to nearly five years in federal prison. 

Riley Neff-Gonzales, age 20, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after a November 2, 2018 guilty plea to one count of possession of a firearm by a drug user. 

Evidence at the sentencing and plea hearings showed that Neff-Gonzales unlawfully possessed a stolen gun, a .22 caliber revolver, on April 6, 2018, nearly two years after the gun had been reported stolen.  Neff-Gonzales also admitted to knowing the gun had been stolen.  At the time authorities found Neff-Gonzales with the gun, he tested positive for several drugs, including benzodiazepines, opiates, cocaine metabolites, and marijuana.  Neff-Gonzales also has a prior conviction for assault while displaying a dangerous weapon. 

Neff-Gonzales was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams.  Neff-Gonzales was sentenced to 57 months’ imprisonment.  He must also serve a 3-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).  PSN is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jake Schunk and investigated by the Cedar Rapids Safe Streets Task Force.  The task force is composed of representatives from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Cedar Rapids Police Department.

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

The case file number is 18-cr-00074-CJW.

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