Man who Illegally Possessed Multiple Firearms in Cedar Falls Sentenced to Over Seven Years in Federal Prison

An Iowa man who illegally possessed multiple firearms, including a sawed off-shotgun, was sentenced today to more than seven years in federal prison.

Ian Jon Duffy, age 35, from Independence, Iowa, received the prison term after a October 10, 2024 guilty plea to two counts of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and one count of possession of a national firearms destructive device not registered to possessor. 

In October 2023, law enforcement officers traffic stopped Duffy due to concerns about his wellbeing.  At that time, he was in possession of multiple loaded firearms.  Duffy had a prior domestic conviction which prohibited him from possessing firearms.  After the traffic stop, Duffy had his wife obtain a Glock firearm for him and later possessed multiple firearms in his residence.  One of those firearms included a sawed-off shotgun that Duffy had altered by changing the grip.

Duffy was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams.  Duffy was sentenced to 87 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.

Duffy 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 Nicole L. Nagin, and it was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Waterloo Police Department, and the Cedar Falls Police Department.

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.

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

The case file number is 24-CR- 02031-2.

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