Tondrell Darnez Gary Jr., Marijuana-Induced Firearm Possession, Iowa 2019

Tondrell Darnez Gary Jr., a 23-year-old from Waterloo, Iowa, is headed to federal prison for 41 months after admitting he was armed while high on marijuana. The sentence, handed down April 29, 2019, follows a November 5, 2018, guilty plea to being a drug user in possession of a firearm — a charge that cuts deep in the federal crackdown on street-level gun violence.

Gary didn’t wait for questions when police moved to stop the car he was riding in on June 11, 2018. He tossed a loaded Ruger 9mm handgun out the window into a residential neighborhood, hoping it would vanish. It didn’t. Officers recovered the weapon, and Gary confessed not only to the toss but to being a regular marijuana user — a critical admission under federal law.

U.S. District Court Judge C.J. Williams delivered the 41-month sentence in Cedar Rapids. Gary will serve no parole — the federal system doesn’t allow it — and will face an additional three years under strict federal supervision after release. He’s currently in U.S. Marshals custody, awaiting transport to a federal pen.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa C. Williams and built by a federal task force that included the Waterloo Police Department, FBI, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, with support from the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office and Cedar Falls Police. It was rolled into Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the DOJ’s signature initiative targeting violent offenders in high-crime areas.

PSN isn’t just about arrests — it’s about strategy. The program pulls together law enforcement, community leaders, and reentry programs to dismantle cycles of violence. But for Gary, the immediate reality is steel doors and concrete: another name in the federal docket, another young man off the streets for illegally packing heat while under the influence.

Case file 18-CR-2047 is available through the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa’s electronic filing system. For updates, follow @USAO_NDIA on Twitter.

Related Federal Cases