A Waterloo man was sentenced to nearly four years in prison after being caught with a loaded “ghost gun” at a high school football game.
Dayton Amaru Shakur Bruce, 20, from Waterloo, Iowa, received the prison term after an April 4, 2024, guilty plea to possession of ammunition by a drug user.
According to information disclosed during the plea and sentencing hearings, in August 2023, Waterloo police officers responded to Waterloo East High School after a fight broke out. Officers observed Bruce in the crowd and attempted to contact him after learning he may be involved in the fight. Bruce ran and officers chased him throughout the parking lot. Along the way, Bruce threw a fully loaded “ghost gun” in the back of a pickup truck. Bruce did not know the owner of the pickup truck. Officers took Bruce into custody and located the gun in the pickup truck. Bruce was under the influence of marijuana at the time and was a regular user of marijuana.
“Ghost guns” are guns which are often assembled from kits, do not contain serial numbers, and are sold without background checks, making them difficult to trace and easy to acquire by criminals.
At sentencing, the court also found that Bruce was involved in a shooting in June 2023. During that incident, Bruce shot into a car hitting the victim in the back of the head. The victim survived that incident. Bruce was later located by police and the gun used in that shooting was found nearby.
Bruce was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by Chief United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Bruce was sentenced to 46 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.
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.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ashley Corkery and investigated by the Waterloo Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the Federal Bureau of Investigations.
Bruce was sentenced in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on April 4, 2024. The case file number is 24gv-CR-2010.
Key Facts
- State: Iowa
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
ðŸâ€Â’ Get the grimiest stories delivered weekly. Subscribe free →
MORE FEDERAL CRIME NEWS
US NewsUS NewsUS NewsUS News