Cedar Rapids Felon Pleads Guilty to Federal Crime After Throwing Handguns From Car During Police Chase

A man who threw guns from a car during a police chase pled guilty today in federal court in Cedar Rapids.

Jordan Lewis Holmes, age 23, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was convicted of one count of being a felon and unlawful drug user in possession of a firearm.

At the plea hearing, Holmes admitted that he possessed two nine millimeter handguns in March 2019, and that at the time he was an unlawful marijuana user and a felon.  Court records reflect that in March 2019, The United States Marshals Service was seeking to arrest Holmes a warrant for a parole violation on a prior felony stolen weapon trafficking charge.  Officers saw Holmes get into a vehicle and tried to initiate a traffic stop, at which time a chase ensued.  During the chase the vehicle in which Holmes was a passenger drove into a church parking lot and two 9 millimeter handguns were thrown from the window where Holmes was seated.  At the end of the vehicle chase, the vehicle in which defendant was riding pulled into an apartment complex parking lot, and, without the vehicle being coming to a stop, Holmes and the other three occupants of the vehicle fled on foot.  Officers caught up to Holmes and arrested him shortly thereafter.

Officers later retrieved the handguns from the church parking lot.  The serial numbers on both firearms had been defaced.  Further investigation revealed that two days before the chase Holmes had posted a video of himself holding a handgun that resembled one of the handguns found in the parking lot.  Evidence at a prior hearing showed that during a recorded phone call shortly after his arrest, Holmes told the other person that he had to get rid of his “size nine shoes,” indicating that Holmes had thrown the firearms from the moving vehicle.

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.

This case is also part of Project Guardian, the Department of Justice’s signature initiative to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws. Initiated by the Attorney General in the fall of 2019, Project Guardian draws upon the Department’s past successful programs to reduce gun violence; enhances coordination of federal, state, local, and tribal authorities in investigating and prosecuting gun crimes; improves information-sharing by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives when a prohibited individual attempts to purchase a firearm and is denied by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), to include taking appropriate actions when a prospective purchaser is denied by the NICS for mental health reasons; and ensures that federal resources are directed at the criminals posing the greatest threat to our communities. The United States Attorney’s Office has prosecuted this case with support from the following Project Guardian partners: [list partners here]. For more information about Project Guardian, please see /media/1122011/dl?inline.

Sentencing before United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams will be set after a presentence report is prepared.  Holmes remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing.  Holmes faces a possible maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and 3 years of supervised release following any imprisonment.

The case was investigated by the United States Marshals Service and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dan Chatham. 

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

The case file number is 19-CR-00124-CJW-MAR.

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