CEDAR RAPIDS – A drug dealer and user who possessed numerous guns, sold cocaine, and accidently shot someone after smoking marijuana was sentenced today to more than a dozen years in federal prison.
Kyler Jacob Junkins, age 20, from Marion, Iowa, received the prison term after a June 28, 2018, guilty plea to being a drug user in possession of a firearm and distribution of cocaine.
In a plea agreement, Junkins admitted that on March 28, 2017, he possessed a .22 caliber rifle. Information at sentencing showed that on that day, Junkins used marijuana and then accidently shot the rifle. The gunshot struck another person in the abdomen. Junkins admitted to possessing at least eight other guns in 2016 through 2017. One of the guns had an obliterated serial number and another gun had been altered in an attempt to make it silent. Junkins also admitted to selling cocaine on multiple occasions and trading drugs for guns.
Junkins was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge Linda R. Reade. Junkins was sentenced to 151 months’ imprisonment. 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), a program that has been historically successful in bringing together all levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice has made turning the tide of rising violent crime in America a top priority. In October 2017, as part of a series of actions to address this crime trend, the Department of Justice announced the reinvigoration of PSN and directed all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to develop a district crime reduction strategy that incorporates the lessons learned since PSN launched in 2001.
Junkins is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Drew Inman and Assistant United States Attorney Anthony Morfitt and investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the Marion Police Department, and the Cedar Rapids Police Department.
