CEDAR RAPIDS – A man who used marijuana and possessed a firearm after being convicted of a felony offense was sentenced Friday to almost six years in federal prison.
Andre Kase, Jr., age 20, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after a February 27, 2013, guilty plea to one count of possession of a firearm by a felon and unlawful user of marijuana.
At the plea hearing, Kase admitted that on October 8, 2012, Cedar Rapids police officers responded to a report of an attempted burglary in progress. Upon arriving in the area, officers found Kase in possession of a stolen Smith and Wesson .380 caliber handgun. Kase admitted that he was a marijuana user and that he had been convicted of Burglary on September 19, 2012. Kase was also convicted in March 2012 of Carrying Weapons in which he admitted shooting a man with a stolen gun during a drug deal.
Kase was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade. Kase was sentenced to 71 months’ imprisonment. A special assessment of $100 was imposed. He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Kase is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a cooperative local, state and federal program aimed at the enhanced prosecution of gun crimes. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel C. Tvedt and was investigated by the Cedar Rapids Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
