Felon Who Used a Gun to Commit a Robbery Sentenced to More than Nine Years in Prison

A man who robbed and assaulted another person while in possession of a firearm was sentenced on March 1, 2021, to more than nine years in federal prison.

Anquavion Claybon, age 22, from Waterloo, Iowa, received the prison term after an August 21, 2020 guilty plea to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

At the guilty plea, Claybon admitted he possessed a firearm after having been convicted of two previous felony offenses that involved firearms.  Information at sentencing showed that, on January 19, 2020, Claybon used a firearm to rob a victim, stealing money from the victim.  Claybon and others then assaulted the victim.     

Claybon was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams.  Claybon was sentenced to 110 months’ imprisonment.  He was ordered to make $105 in restitution.  He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.  Claybon is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

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.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kyndra Lundquist and investigated by a Federal Task Force composed of the Waterloo Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms assisted by the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office and Cedar Falls Police Department.

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

The case file number is 20-CR-2025.

Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.