Waterloo Domestic Abuser Who Possessed Firearms with High Capacity Magazines Sentenced to Federal Prison

A convicted domestic abuser who possessed guns illegally was sentenced today to two years in federal prison.

Chad Michael Newell, age 51, from Waterloo, Iowa, received the prison term after a September 4, 2025, guilty plea to possession of a firearm by a person convicted of domestic violence.

In 2020, Newell was convicted of domestic abuse assault by strangulation and domestic abuse assault causing bodily injury.  Based on these convictions, Newell was prohibited from possessing guns.  On February 11, 2025, police searched Newell’s garage and located three guns in Newell’s inside a car.  Two of the guns had a magazine with a 30-round capacity.   

Newell was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand.  Newell was sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment.  He must also serve a two-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Newell was released on the bond previously set and is to surrender to the United States Marshal on date yet to be set.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Nicole L. Nagin, and investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Waterloo 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 25-CR-02029.

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