Waterloo Felon Returned to Federal Prison for Possessing Firearm

A Waterloo man who illegally possessed a firearm shortly after his release from federal prison for illegally possessing a firearm was sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison.  Shaquan Coffer, age 25, from Waterloo, Iowa, received the prison term after a September 26, 2023, guilty plea to one count of possession of a firearm by a felon.

Evidence at Coffer’s guilty plea and sentencing hearings established that, in 2018, Coffer was sentenced in federal court to 34 months’ imprisonment and three years of supervised release after a conviction on one count of possession of a firearm by a felon.  Coffer has an extensive prior criminal history in state court, including convictions for possessing a firearm by a felon, first-degree harassment, escape from custody, and theft.  In early March 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons released Coffer after he completed his federal sentence, and he began his three-year term of supervised release.

On April 2, 2023, Cedar Falls Police Department (“CFPD”) officers were dispatched to investigate a domestic assault in a moving vehicle.  Coffer’s girlfriend had called 911, because Coffer, the passenger in the vehicle, had kicked and cracked her windshield during an argument in the vehicle.  When the CFPD officers attempted to conduct a pat-down search of Coffer, he fled the scene on foot. During a foot chase, Coffer tossed a firearm on the ground in the driveway of a local business.  The firearm was stolen and loaded with an extended magazine.

Coffer was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams.  Coffer was sentenced to a total of 85 months’ imprisonment, 71 months for one count of possessing a firearm as a felon and an additional 14 months for violating the terms of his supervised release.  He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison terms.  There is no parole in the federal system.

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.           

Coffer 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 Timothy L. Vavricek and investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and the Cedar Falls Police Department. 

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

The case file numbers are 23-CR-2025 and 18-CR-2041.

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