Department of Justice
For Immediate Release
Armed Career Criminal Sentenced to Over a Decade in Federal Prison
Found in Possession of Five Stolen Firearms and Dozens of Rounds of Ammunition
A man who barricaded himself in a residence with a small child, stolen firearms, narcotics, and dozens of rounds of ammunition, was sentenced on February 8, 2023, to 15 years in federal prison.
Darren Ackerman, age 39, from Waterloo, Iowa, received the prison term after an August 22, 2022 guilty plea to being a felon in possession of firearms.
At a prior hearing in the case, evidence showed that, on October 25, 2020, Ackerman assaulted a victim who fled the home they were in. After the police were called, Ackerman refused to come to the door and barricaded himself inside with a small child. Police were forced to break down Ackerman’s door in order to rescue the child. Ackerman had narcotics in his possession and there were dozens of rounds of ammunition as well as five stolen firearms in the house. Ackerman was previously convicted of multiple felonies in the state of Iowa including burglary, theft, and narcotics related offenses.
Ackerman was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Ackerman was sentenced to 180 months’ imprisonment and fined $100. He was ordered to pay restitution. He must also serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Ackerman 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, 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.
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 21-cr-2023.