Waterloo Man Sentenced To More Than Nine Years in Federal Prison for Unlawfully Possessing Handgun

A convicted felon who unlawfully possessed a gun was sentenced on November 19, 2019, to 110 months in federal prison.

Diamond Duckings, age 34, from Waterloo, Iowa, received the prison term after a guilty plea to one count of possession of a firearm by a felon.  Duckings unlawfully possessed a gun after having two prior felony convictions related to the distribution of drugs.  Information at sentencing showed that Duckings fired the handgun out of a car window after leaving a club in the early morning hours. 

Duckings was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams.  Duckings was sentenced to an imprisonment term of 110 months.  He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system. 

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN).  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.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jacob Schunk and investigated by the Waterloo Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.  Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.  The case file number is 19-CR-2037.  Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.