CEDAR RAPIDS – An armed Waterloo drug user who possessed a loaded .40 caliber pistol was sentenced today to two years in federal prison.
Shuntez Porter, age 23, from Waterloo, Iowa, received the prison term after a March 15, 2021 guilty plea to possession of a firearm by a drug user.
In a plea agreement, Porter admitted he was a passenger in a car stopped in Waterloo on August 1, 2020. Police searched the car and found a pistol inside the glovebox. The car had an odor of burnt marijuana and small pieces of marijuana were found around the passenger seat. Porter’s urine was positive for marijuana metabolites. A DNA test comparing swabs taken from the firearm to Porter’s DNA, showed there was strong support that the DNA from the gun was Porter’s DNA.
Porter was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Porter was sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment and fined $100. He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Porter 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 Elizabeth Dupuich and investigated by the Waterloo Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
