Riley Neff-Gonzales, Possession of Stolen Firearm, IA 2019

A Cedar Rapids man with a known drug habit was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison May 14, 2019, for illegally possessing a stolen .22 caliber revolver. Riley Neff-Gonzales, 20, admitted to holding onto the firearm nearly two years after it was reported missing, confirming he knew it had been stolen.

Neff-Gonzales pleaded guilty November 2, 2018, to one count of possession of a firearm by a drug user, a federal offense that slammed him with a near-five-year sentence. At the time of arrest on April 6, 2018, authorities found the weapon in his possession and tested him positive for benzodiazepines, opiates, cocaine metabolites, and marijuana.

The conviction follows a joint investigation by the Cedar Rapids Safe Streets Task Force, which includes agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and officers from the Cedar Rapids Police Department. The probe confirmed the revolver had been reported stolen in 2016 and resurfaced in the hands of a repeat offender with a violent past.

Neff-Gonzales isn’t a stranger to weapons-related violence. He carries a prior conviction for assault while displaying a dangerous weapon, a fact that weighed heavily during sentencing before United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams in Cedar Rapids. The judge handed down the 57-month sentence with no chance of parole—federal lockups don’t offer early outs.

On top of prison time, Neff-Gonzales must serve a mandatory 3-year term of supervised release. He’ll be watched, tested, and restricted—any slip-up could send him back behind bars. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jake Schunk as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the DOJ’s flagship violent crime crackdown.

PSN targets the most dangerous offenders through coordinated federal, state, and local enforcement. By focusing on high-risk individuals like Neff-Gonzales—armed, using, and with a history—the program aims to disrupt cycles of violence. Court records are accessible via the Northern District of Iowa’s electronic filing system under case number 18-cr-00074-CJW.

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