CEDAR FALLS – A Cedar Falls man who illegally acquired and possessed firearms after shooting a man in the face in 2017 was sentenced to more than 5 years in federal prison.
DeShaun Anthony Bullock, Jr., age 29, from Cedar Falls, Iowa, received the prison term after a September 2020 guilty plea to possession of a firearm by a drug user.
Evidence at sentencing showed that Bullock shot a Waterloo man in the face in March 2017. Bullock was acquitted of a charge related to the March 2017 shooting in state court; however, after the acquittal, he admitted to the shooting in text messages. In July 2018, Bullock fraudulently obtained a state permit to carry weapons by lying about his drug use on the application form. In March 2019, Bullock possessed a firearm during a drug transaction. After officers observed the drug transaction, they conducted a traffic stop on Bullock’s vehicle and seized the firearm and marijuana. A month later, in April 2019, Bullock fraudulently and illegally obtained a second firearm by lying about his drug use on an ATF form required to purchase the firearm. In July 2019, officers executed a search warrant at Bullock’s residence and seized the firearm he bought in April 2019 and marijuana. Bullock admitted to officers that he had been a user of marijuana since he was 13 years old.
Bullock was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Bullock was sentenced to 63 months’ imprisonment. He must also serve a 3-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Bullock 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 Dillan Edwards and investigated by a Federal Task Force composed of the Waterloo Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms assisted by the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office and Cedar Falls Police Department.
