CEDAR RAPIDS – A man with multiple prior convictions involving violence was sentenced today to over seven years in federal prison.
Charles Ware, age 47, from Waterloo, Iowa, received the prison term after a guilty plea to possessing a firearm as a felon. The judge at sentencing noted that Ware engaged in a shootout with a co-defendant, also a felon, which was “not unlike the Wild West,” with bullets going through multiple windows and the co-defendant being shot in the leg. The judge also noted Ware’s “fairly nonstop” criminal conduct, which included 30 adult convictions, six convictions for violent assaults on women, and violent misconduct while in prison.
Ware was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Ware was sentenced to 90 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. Ware is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jake Schunk and investigated by the Waterloo Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
