Felon Who Possessed Stolen Handgun Sentenced to More Than Two Years’ In Federal Prison

A man who possessed a stolen gun after being convicted of a felony drug offense was sentenced today to more than two years in federal prison.

Matthew Robert Primmer, age 20, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after a March 21, 2019 guilty plea to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

At the guilty plea, Primmer admitted that he possessed a firearm in Cedar Rapids on December 8, 2018.  On that day, police received a report of a disturbance and a witness stated that he had observed a gun fall from Primmer’s pocket.  When officers approached Primmer, he ran from them.  Police eventually located Primmer hiding between two cars in a nearby parking lot.  While speaking with Primmer, a Glock 19 Gen4 9mm pistol fell from Primmer’s person onto the ground.  Police later learned the firearm was previously reported stolen. 

Primmer was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams.  Primmer was sentenced to 27 months’ imprisonment.  He must also serve a three-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.

Primmer is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lisa C. Williams and investigated by the Cedar Rapids Safe Streets Task Force.  The task force is composed of representatives from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Cedar Rapids Police Department.  

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

The case file number is 19-CR-0011.

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