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Press Release

Waterloo Drug User Who Possessed a Firearm Sentenced

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Iowa

    A Waterloo woman was sentenced today to three months in federal prison for possessing a firearm while using marijuana.

    Lakeena Marie Pendleton, age 36, from Waterloo, Iowa, received the prison term after a March 6, 2023 guilty plea to possession of a firearm by a drug user.       

In July 2021, and then again in March 2022, Pendleton purchased a firearm, and indicated on an ATF Form 4473 that she was not an unlawful user of marijuana.  At the time she purchased both firearms, she knew she was an unlawful user of marijuana and knowingly made a false statement and representation to a federal licensed firearm dealer.  In May 2022, Pendleton was stopped while driving.  Police located one of the firearms she previously purchased in the vehicle, along with alcohol, and a small amount of marijuana on her person.

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

Pendleton is currently out on bond and will self-surrender on October 17, 2023.

The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Nicole L. Nagin, and it was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, 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 22-CR-2050.

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Updated September 8, 2023

Topics
Project Safe Neighborhoods
Firearms Offenses