Waterloo Armed Career Criminal Sentenced to 15 Years in Federal Prison for Selling Stolen Firearm

A man who sold a stolen firearm during an undercover sting operation was sentenced today to 15 years in federal prison.

Vernon Montrell Webster, age 44, from Waterloo, Iowa, received the prison term after a March 17, 2017, guilty plea to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

At the guilty plea, Webster admitted he unlawfully possessed a 44 Magnum revolver and 30 rounds of ammunition in July 2015. Testimony at an earlier hearing showed that Webster sold the revolver, which had previously been stolen, and ammunition to another individual during an undercover sting operation. Additional testimony showed that during another undercover operation in December 2016, Webster sold a bulletproof vest that had previously been stolen from a reserve police officer. At sentencing, the court noted that Webster had previously been convicted of felony burglary three times, and of one felony drug conviction.

Webster was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge Linda R. Reade. Webster was sentenced to 180 months’ imprisonment. A special assessment of $100 was imposed. He must also serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

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

The case was investigated by the Tri‑County Drug Enforcement Task Force and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dan Chatham.

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

The case file number is 17-CR-02005-LRR.

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