Cedar Rapids Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Federal Prison for Illegally Possessing Firearms

A man who illegally possessed firearms was sentenced yesterday to 15 years in federal prison, the maximum prison term allowed for his crimes.

Kendan Fonville, also known as “Fudd,” age 23, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after an April 28, 2015, guilty plea to possessing a firearm as drug user and possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

In a plea agreement, Fonville admitted that he illegally possessed a Bersa Thunder .380 caliber pistol in March 2012.  Fonville admitted that the pistol had an obliterated serial number, that he knew the serial number was obliterated, and that he was an unlawful drug user at the time he possessed the pistol.  At yesterday’s sentencing hearing, witnesses testified that in March 2012, defendant assaulted a woman with a bottle, knocking her unconscious, and then shot rounds into the air from an AK-47 assault rifle in the middle of the street on the Southeast side of Cedar Rapids.  Evidence at the sentencing hearing also showed that Fonville severely beat another inmate in November 2014 while he was awaiting trial and sentencing in this matter. 

Fonville has been in federal custody since an October 2014 detention hearing in front of Chief United States Magistrate Judge Jon Stuart Scoles.  In ordering him detained, Judge Scoles concluded that “despite being only 22 years old, [Fonville] has approximately 30 convictions,” including “11 convictions for assault, 6 convictions for interference with official acts, 4 convictions for public intoxication, and 3 convictions for trespass.”

In sentencing Fonville to a 15-year prison term, United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade noted defendant’s violent past, the seriousness of his federal offenses, and found that he “poses a substantial risk of danger to the public.”  There is no parole in the federal system.

“Targeting violent criminals for federal investigation and prosecution is a priority for the Northern District of Iowa United States Attorney’s Office while working with the entire federal state and local law enforcement community,” said United States Attorney Techau.  “One way to stop violent criminals who endanger our communities is for law enforcement and prosecutors to work together.  This case is a good example of how this kind of partnership makes a difference.  The individual sentenced is a very violent person.  His record speaks for itself.  There is no doubt he is a very dangerous man that needs to be locked up to protect society.”

“This conviction is the result of a cooperative effort between area law enforcement and the U.S. Attorney to apprehend and hold accountable an individual for both dangerous and illegal activity in our community,” said Cedar Rapids Chief of Police Wayne Jerman.  “We are grateful to the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our federal law enforcement partners for helping make Cedar Rapids a safer community.”

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys C.J. Williams and Ravi T. Narayan and was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Safe Streets Task Force and the Cedar Rapids Police Department. 

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

The case file number is 14-CR-117.

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