Waterloo Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Giving Gun to Friend During Dispute

A Waterloo man, responsible for providing a gun to his friend when both were prohibited from possessing guns, was sentenced today to 112 months in prison.

Aundrey Frequal Roberts, Jr., age 26, from Waterloo, Iowa, received the prison sentence today following a June 18, 2020 guilty plea to possession of a firearm by a felon.

Information disclosed at sentencing and at his plea hearing showed that in July 2019, Robert’s friend, Dreyon Grant, got into a dispute with another man at an apartment complex in Waterloo after the other man accused Grant of stealing money.  When the victim confronted him, Grant came out of his apartment unit holding a knife and pointing it at the victim.  After the victim refused to leave, Grant called Roberts.  A short time later, Roberts came over with a gun.  Grant tried to scare the victim away with the gun.  The victim called 911.  Police responded and located the gun.  No one was injured in the dispute. 

Roberts has prior criminal convictions for intimidation with a dangerous weapon, harassment, and assault, among other convictions.  Roberts also admitted to being the driver of a vehicle involved in a shooting which left a nine-year old child with a gunshot wound.   

Roberts was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams.  Roberts was sentenced to 112 months’ imprisonment.  He was ordered to make payment of $100 to the special assessment fund.  He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ashley Corkery.  This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) through a cooperative effort of the Waterloo Police Department, Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office, Federal Bureau of Investigations Safe Streets Unit, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.  PSN is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

This case is also part of Project Guardian, the Department of Justice’s signature initiative to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws. Initiated by the Attorney General in the fall of 2019, Project Guardian draws upon the Department’s past successful programs to reduce gun violence; enhances coordination of federal, state, local, and tribal authorities in investigating and prosecuting gun crimes; improves information-sharing by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives when a prohibited individual attempts to purchase a firearm and is denied by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), to include taking appropriate actions when a prospective purchaser is denied by the NICS for mental health reasons; and ensures that federal resources are directed at the criminals posing the greatest threat to our communities. For more information about Project Guardian, please see /media/1122011/download?inline.

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

The case file number is 19-CR-2060.

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