Waterloo Man Sentenced to 168 Months in Federal Prison for Attempted Enticement of a Minor Charges

DAVENPORT, Iowa – A Waterloo man was sentenced to 168 months in federal prison for Attempted Enticement of a Minor to Engage in Illicit Sexual Activities.

According to public court documents and evidence presented at sentencing, in October 2023, Gabriel Keith Usher, 47, began messaging over the internet with an undercover officer posing as a 15-year-old minor. Within days, Usher professed his love for the minor and suggested sexual acts they could engage in. When Usher arrived at a designated location to meet with the minor, law enforcement seized his cell phone. In October 2024, Usher was sentenced in Black Hawk County, Iowa to 5 years in state prison on unrelated state charges of enticing a minor under age 16, and sexual exploitation of a minor.

After completing his term of imprisonment, Usher will be required to serve a ten-year term of supervised release. Usher was also ordered to register. There is no parole in the federal system.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa. This case was investigated by the Iowa City Police Department.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc. For information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the resources tab.