Cedar Rapids Man Sentenced for Possessing a Firearm as a Felon

A man who possessed a firearm while on probation for a felony conviction was sentenced today to more than three years in federal prison.

Marshaun Daniel DeMoss, age 23, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after a March 20, 2024, guilty plea to one count of possession of a firearm by a felon.

At the guilty plea, DeMoss admitted that on October 27, 2023, he knowingly possessed a firearm, a Taurus G3 9x19mm caliber pistol, as a felon.  Specifically, during a fight with his girlfriend, DeMoss assaulted, strangled, and hit her in the head with the firearm.  When his girlfriend fled in her vehicle, DeMoss followed in his car and pointed the firearm out the car window at her.  After his girlfriend reported the assault to police, officers stopped DeMoss’s car and found a loaded Taurus G3 pistol with an extended magazine with a round in the chamber.  At the time of the incident, DeMoss was on probation on a state felony conviction for trafficking in stolen weapons.  He was also on probation for domestic abuse assault.

DeMoss was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams.  DeMoss was sentenced to 42 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.

DeMoss 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 Daniel C. Tvedt and investigated by Cedar Rapids Police Department, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. 

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. 

The case file number is 24-CR-01.

Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.