Illegal Alien Sentenced to Prison for Unlawful Possession of a Firearm

A Guatemalan man who illegally possessed a firearm was sentenced today to ten months in federal prison.

Pablo Perez-Chavez, age 22, a citizen of Guatemala illegally present in the United States and residing in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after a July 25, 2022, guilty plea to one count of Possession of a Firearm by an Illegal Alien.

In a plea agreement, Perez-Chavez admitted that he unlawfully possessed a firearm in April 2022 while being illegally present in the United States.  On April 30, 2022, Perez-Chavez was arrested by Cedar Rapids police officers after the officers were called to Perez-Chavez’s location by a 911 call.  During the course of the investigation, officers found two .380 caliber bullets in Perez-Chavez’s pocket and a Walther PK380, .380 Auto caliber pistol on the ground where they first spotted Perez-Chavez that morning.  Perez-Chavez admitted that he knowingly possessed the firearm.

Perez-Chavez was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams.  Perez-Chavez was sentenced to ten 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.

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

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel C. Tvedt and investigated by the Cedar Rapids Police Department and the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations.

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

The case file number is 22-CR-46.

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