Eleven Time Felon Found Guilty of Possessing a Firearm

An eleven‑time felon who fired a pistol during an argument was convicted by a jury on January 15, 2025, after a three-day trial in federal court in Cedar Rapids.

Kenneth Moore, age 50, from Dubuque, Iowa, was convicted of one count of possession of a firearm by a felon.  The verdict was returned following less than three hours of jury deliberations.  

The evidence at trial showed that on August 4, 2023, around 4:00 a.m., Moore got into an argument with an individual on the porch of a residence in Dubuque.  During the argument, two individuals attempted to push Moore away from the argument and de‑escalate the situation.  As they were pushing Moore away, Moore fired a pistol towards the residence.  The bullet nearly hit two people, went through the front wall of the residence, and lodged in the back living room wall.  Moore then fled the scene.  Twelve days later, on August 16, 2023, officers arrested Moore and searched the car he was driving, where they recovered the pistol Moore fired on August 4.  Moore was prohibited from possessing firearms because he had previously been convicted of eleven felony convictions. 

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams will be set after a presentence report is prepared.  Moore remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing.  Moore faces a possible maximum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment without the possibility of parole, a $250,000 fine, and not more than 3 years of supervised release following any imprisonment.  

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dillan Edwards and Special Assistant United States Attorney Jared Manternach, and it was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the Dubuque Police Department. 

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

The case file number is 24‑CR‑01009‑CJW.

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