Cedar Rapids Man Who Fired Several Shots at People Sentenced to Prison

A Cedar Rapids man who returned fire at a drive-by shooter was sentenced today to 24 months in prison.

Treysean Adair Burnside, age 23, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison sentence after a January 14, 2019 guilty plea to possession of a firearm by a drug user. 

Information disclosed at sentencing and in a written plea agreement showed that on July 22 of last year, Burnside got into an argument over a fake $100 bill at a local bar in Cedar Rapids.  After the argument, Burnside went home and received a call from an unknown man asking where he was.  Burnside then retrieved a loaded 9mm gun from his residence and waited on the front porch.  A short time later, a vehicle drove by and someone inside the vehicle fired a shot at Burnside’s residence.  Burnside fired back six or seven times.  No one was hurt in the shooting but a nearby residence was struck by some of the shots and sustained damage to the interior of the residence.  Burnside was high on cocaine at the time.  Burnside also admitted to police that he used marijuana every day. 

Burnside was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams.  Burnside was sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Burnside was ordered to self-surrender to United States Marshal’s custody on June 14, 2019 to begin serving his prison term. 

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 Ashley Corkery and investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives 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-2068.

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