Cedar Rapids Felon Sentenced to Federal Prison for Possessing a Gun

A felon and drug user was sentenced December 18, 2018, to six months in federal prison for possessing a gun.

Willie B. Hodges II, age 57, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after a June 25, 2018 guilty plea to possession of a firearm by a felon.

At the guilty plea, Hodges admitted that, on December 22, 2017, he possessed a loaded handgun while driving a car on Highway 151 in rural Iowa County.  Information at sentencing showed that Hodges was a regular marijuana user and had a prior conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Hodges was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by Chief United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand.  Hodges was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment and must also serve a two-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 Tim Vavricek and investigated by the Iowa State Patrol.  Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.  The case file number is 18-CR-44-LTS.  Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.