CEDAR RAPIDS – Two men who discharged firearms in Marion were sentenced today to ten years in federal prison.
Mykael Robertson, age 20, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after a November 5, 2018, guilty plea to possessing ammunition after sustaining a conviction for domestic violence. Yecary Harris, age 19, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after a November 5, 2018, guilty plea to possessing ammunition as a felon.
Evidence at the sentencing hearing showed that in May 2018, while at the Houby Days celebration, Robertson was assaulted by a group of men. On May 24, 2018, Robertson and Harris were passengers in a vehicle when they observed two vehicles, each driven by an individual they associated with the assault. Robertson and Harris had the driver of their vehicle position the vehicle in front of the other two cars. As the vehicles turned onto First Street in Marion, directly next to Thomas Moore Park, Robertson and Harris leaned out of their respective windows and began discharging their firearms at the two vehicles behind them. One bullet struck the windshield of one of the vehicles, causing injury to the driver. Officers eventually recovered six shell casings and multiple bullet fragments from the scene.
Robertson and Harris were sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge CJ Williams. During the sentencing hearing, the Judge Williams noted that defendants’ acted in “an incredibly reckless manner that could have resulted in multiple fatalities.” Robertson and Harris were each sentenced to 120 months’ imprisonment. They must also each serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Robertson and Harris are being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until they can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lisa C. Williams and investigated by the Marion Police Department, The High Risk Unit of the Sixth Judicial Probation Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the Cedar Rapids Police Department, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.
