Description:
Cedar Rapids, Iowa criminal law lawyer represented Defendant charged with with felony possession of a firearm and ammunition in violation of 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(3) and 924(a)(2), which provide:
(g) It shall be unlawful for any person—
(1) who has been convicted in any court of, a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;
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and
(a)
(1) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, subsection (b), (c), (f), or (p) of this section, or in section 929, whoever—
(A) knowingly makes any false statement or representation with respect to the information required by this chapter to be kept in the records of a person licensed under this chapter or in applying for any license or exemption or relief from disability under the provisions of this chapter;
(B) knowingly violates subsection (a)(4), (f), (k), or (q) of section 922;
(C) knowingly imports or brings into the United States or any possession thereof any firearm or ammunition in violation of section 922(l); or
(D) willfully violates any other provision of this chapter,
shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
(2) Whoever knowingly violates subsection (a)(6), (h), (i), (j), or (o) of section 922 shall be fined as provided in this title, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.
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Johnny Blahnik Church, f/k/a Drew Blahnik, age 35, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, admitted that, in February 2019, he possessed a Glock .40 caliber handgun and multiple rounds of .40 caliber ammunition. Church also admitted that at the time he possessed this gun and ammunition, he was prohibited from doing so because he was a knowing user of both cocaine and methamphetamine.
In July 2021, Church, then known as Drew Blahnik, was convicted after a trial in the Iowa District Court for Linn County of second-degree murder, obstruction of justice, and abuse of a corpse related to the December 2018 death of Chris Bagley. In December 2021, Church was sentenced to 57 years in Iowa state prison as a result of these convictions.
Evidence at sentencing showed that, in May 2022, while confined in the Linn County Jail awaiting trial on his federal gun charge, Church, along with another inmate, assaulted a third inmate. The assault, which lasted for several minutes, included Church and the other inmate assaulting the victim by punching him, kicking him, and hitting him with a metal tray, causing multiple serious injuries. Church has been charged with assault causing serious injury and tampering with a witness in the Iowa District Court for Linn County. As with any criminal case, a charge is merely an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Church was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Church was sentenced to 60 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.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anthony Morfitt and was investigated by the Linn County Sheriff's Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
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