Sylvester Cunningham, Gun and Drugs, Iowa 2020

Convicted Felon Caught with Gun and Drugs at Iowa Walmart

A convicted felon, Sylvester Cunningham, 41, from Blue Island, Illinois, was convicted of possessing drugs and a gun inside a Cedar Rapids Wal-Mart after a two-day trial in federal court.

Cunningham was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm, possessing crack and powder cocaine with the intent to distribute, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

The verdict was returned following about six hours of jury deliberations. The evidence at trial showed that at about 11:00 A.M. on August 7, 2020, Cunningham, who was in a wheelchair, entered the vestibule of a Wal-Mart store in Cedar Rapids.

Cunningham moved from his wheelchair into a Wal-Mart electric shopping cart. A short time later, while helping Cunningham look for a lost cellphone, a Wal-Mart employee lifted the cushion of Cunningham’s wheelchair and saw a .357 caliber revolver.

The employee alerted an off-duty Cedar Rapids Police Department officer who was providing security for the store. The officer retrieved the gun. After finding out that Cunningham was on federal supervised release for a prior gun charge, police officers arrested him. While searching him as part of the arrest, officers located thirteen individual baggies of crack and powder cocaine concealed in Cunningham’s clothing.

Prior to August 7, 2020, Cunningham had received two felony convictions. First, in 2004, Cunningham was convicted of felony operating while intoxicated in Illinois. Second, in 2012, Cunningham was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm in the federal district court for the Northern District of Iowa.

Cunningham faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a $1,500,000 fine, and up to life on supervised release following any imprisonment. Sentencing before United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams will be set after a presentence report is prepared.

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