Lifelong Marijuana User Sentenced to Two Years in Federal Prison for Possessing Firearms

A drug user who unlawfully possessed guns and who fired a warning shot to scare another person was sentenced August 4, 2020, to two years in federal prison.

Jordan James Booker, age 23, from Waterloo, Iowa, received the prison term after a January 6, 2020 guilty plea to possession of a firearm by a marijuana user.

In a plea agreement, Booker admitted that, on March 9, 2019, he shot a warning shot after an individual came to his house and attempted to buy a television with a counterfeit $100 bill.  When that individual refused to leave Booker’s property, Booker fired a shot into the ground.  Officers also recovered a second firearm from a closet in Booker’s residence.  Booker admitted that he has been a marijuana user his whole life.

Booker was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams.  Booker was sentenced to 24 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.

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.

Booker was released on the bond previously set and is to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons at a date yet to be set.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Emily K. Nydle and investigated by the Waterloo Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). 

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

The case file number is 19-cr-2048.

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