CEDAR RAPIDS – A man who was found with a loaded stolen firearm during a traffic stop was sentenced October 12, 2022, to more than three years in federal prison.
Sir Frank Nelson III, age 27, from Waterloo, Iowa, received the prison term after a May 18, 2022 guilty plea to being a felon in possession of a firearm.
In a plea agreement, Nelson admitted that on June 28, 2020, he was in possession of marijuana and a stolen Smith and Wesson M&P .40 caliber firearm with five rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber. At sentencing, the court found that Nelson was a member of the A1/Front Street criminal street gang in Waterloo. The court also stated that Nelson had no business touching a firearm as he was prohibited.
Nelson was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Nelson was sentenced to 37 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.
Nelson 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 Liz Dupuich and was investigated by a Federal Task Force composed of the Waterloo Police Department’s Violent Crime Apprehension Team (VCAT), 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.
