Cedar Rapids Man with Violent History Sentenced to Federal Prison for Possessing Gun

A Cedar Rapids man, responsible for possessing a gun while using marijuana and being a felon, was sentenced today to 60 months in prison.

Marcus Lynn Brown, Jr., age 20, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison sentence after a November 10, 2020 guilty plea to possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.

Information disclosed at sentencing and at his plea hearing showed that, in May 2020, Cedar Rapids police officers stopped a vehicle Brown was a passenger in because Brown had active arrest warrants.  Once the vehicle stopped, Brown tried to run from police and fought with them as he was being arrested.  Brown left a gun in the vehicle just before running.  Officers located the gun, which was loaded.  The gun had Brown’s DNA on it.  Brown had marijuana in his pocket and tested positive for using marijuana.  Brown has five prior adult criminal convictions, three of which involved violence or firearms. 

Brown was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams.  Brown was sentenced to 60 months’ imprisonment.  He was ordered to make payment of $100 to the special assessment fund.  He must also serve a 3-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ashley Corkery and investigated by the Cedar Rapids Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

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. For more information about Project Guardian, please see /media/1122011/dl?inline.

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

The case file number 20-CR-79.

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