Chicago Man Caught with Stolen Firearm and Marijuana Sent to Prison for Possessing Firearm as a Prohibited Person

A man who possessed a firearm as a prohibited person was sentenced today to more than five years in federal prison.

Johnny Martell Brown, age 31, from Chicago, Illinois, received the prison term after an October 20, 2023 guilty plea to possessing a firearm as a felon and drug user.

In a plea agreement, Brown admitted that, on December 16, 2022, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, law enforcement officers stopped a car that he was driving.  Two minor children were also in the car.  Officers searched the car and found a loaded stolen firearm and marijuana.  In Brown’s underwear, officers discovered a Cheetos bag that contained marijuana.  Brown admitted that he regularly smoked marijuana.  He also has felony convictions for conspiracy to distribute heroin and possessing a controlled substance. 

Brown was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams.  Brown was sentenced to 57 months’ imprisonment and must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.  Brown is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

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.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Devra T. Hake and investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives and the Cedar Rapids Police Department.  

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

The case file number is 23-CR-34.

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