Rodney Cook, Gun Possession by Illegal Drug User, Iowa 2020

A Starke, Florida man was sentenced to federal prison for possessing a firearm while being an illegal drug user, according to a recent press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Iowa.

Rodney Cook, age 40, was sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand in Sioux City on August 24, 2020. He must also serve a 3-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

This incident occurred on May 5, 2019, when law enforcement was dispatched to the Park Motel in Denison, Iowa, in response to reports that a man had fired a gun from inside his room into the parking lot on the south side of the motel. When police responded, they did not see the shooter but noticed that the door to a particular hotel room was open and the window had been broken out. As law enforcement approached that room, they observed Cook standing in his hotel room reloading a revolver.

Cook told one officer he had used methamphetamine earlier and there was meth in the room. Cook told another officer he had fired the revolver in an attempt to scare some people away. A subsequent search of his room revealed methamphetamine and a second handgun.

Cook has twice before been convicted of misdemeanor violence, including an assault and battery on a law enforcement officer.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) and Project Guardian, the Department of Justice’s signature initiative to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws.

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

The case was investigated by the Denison, Iowa Police Department and the Tri-State Drug Task Force based in Sioux City, Iowa, and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Forde Fairchild.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndia/pr/illegal-drug-user-possession-gun-sentenced-federal-prison