Waterloo, Iowa, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with making a false statement during purchase of firearm.

Prescott bought three handguns from a licensed firearms dealer in Cedar Falls between March and August 2024. Prescott lied on forms during these purchases, claiming that she was the actual buyer of the guns. The guns were for Prescott’s fourteen-year-old grandson, who was not old enough to purchase or possess firearms. All three guns were recovered by law enforcement officers in connection with criminal activity. One gun was linked by ballistics testing to a shots-fired incident that occurred in Waterloo on August 3, 2024.

On October 1, 2024, law enforcement agents searched Prescott’s home. She reported that her grandson, who lived in the same household, had threatened to destroy her property and kill her dog if she did not buy a gun for him. Prescott’s grandson was on state probation when she bought guns for him.

Prescott was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams. Prescott was sentenced to five years of federal probation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kyndra Lundquist 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.

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 Defendant was found guilty and was sentenced to 5 years probation and assessed $100.