Jury Convicts Felon with Gun Who Ran From Police (DOJ)

A felon who possessed a firearm was convicted by a jury today after a three-day trial in federal court in Cedar Rapids.

Marcus Dejohn Wallace, age 29, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was convicted of one count of possession of a firearm by a felon. The verdict was returned this afternoon following about three hours of jury deliberations.

The evidence at trial showed that on September 5, 2024, Wallace led officers on a high-speed car chase through Cedar Rapids before pulling over in a residential neighborhood and running from officers. He was apprehended by a police K-9 and taken into custody. Law enforcement found a loaded firearm within throwing distance of where Wallace was apprehended. The firearm was missing a magazine. That missing magazine was later located in the path where Wallace had run. Wallace has a prior federal conviction for distribution of heroin resulting in serious bodily injury.

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.

Sentencing before United States District Court Chief C.J. Williams will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Wallace remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing. Wallace faces a possible maximum sentence of 15 years' imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release following any imprisonment.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Devra Hake, Shawn Wehde, and Dan Tvedt, and was investigated by the Cedar Rapids 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 24-CR-90.

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