Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

A Cedar Falls man who illegally acquired and possessed firearms after shooting a man in the face in 2017 was sentenced today to more than 5 years in federal prison.

DeShaun Anthony Bullock, Jr., age 29, from Cedar Falls, Iowa, received the prison term after a September 2020 guilty plea to possession of a firearm by a drug user.

Evidence at sentencing showed that Bullock shot a Waterloo man in the face in March 2017. Bullock was acquitted of a charge related to the March 2017 shooting in state court; however, after the acquittal, he admitted to the shooting in text messages. In July 2018, Bullock fraudulently obtained a state permit to carry weapons by lying about his drug use on the application form. In March 2019, Bullock possessed a firearm during a drug transaction. After officers observed the drug transaction, they conducted a traffic stop on Bullock’s vehicle and seized the firearm and marijuana. A month later, in April 2019, Bullock fraudulently and illegally obtained a second firearm by lying about his drug use on an ATF form required to purchase the firearm. In July 2019, officers executed a search warrant at Bullock’s residence and seized the firearm he bought in April 2019 and marijuana. Bullock admitted to officers that he had been a user of marijuana since he was 13 years old.

Bullock was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Bullock was sentenced to 63 months’ imprisonment. He must also serve a 3-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

Bullock is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). PSN is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

This case is also part of Project Guardian, the Department of Justice’s signature initiative to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws. Initiated by the Attorney General in the fall of 2019, Project Guardian draws upon the Department’s past successful programs to reduce gun violence; enhances coordination of federal, state, local, and tribal authorities in investigating and prosecuting gun crimes; improves information-sharing by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives when a prohibited individual attempts to purchase a firearm and is denied by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), to include taking appropriate actions when a prospective purchaser is denied by the NICS for mental health reasons; and ensures that federal resources are directed at the criminals posing the greatest threat to our communities. For more information about Project Guardian, please see https://www.justice.gov/ag/page/file/1217186/download.

The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Dillan Edwards and 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.

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

The case file number is 20-CR-02018.

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