Waterloo Gunman Davenport Gets 21 Months

WATERLOO, IA – Dereon Equwan Davenport, 20, of Waterloo, Iowa, is heading to federal prison after being sentenced to 21 months for illegally possessing a firearm. The sentence, handed down May 15, 2019, by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams in Cedar Rapids, stems from a June 3, 2018, traffic stop that unearthed more than just a broken tail light.

The Waterloo Police Department pulled Davenport over for a traffic violation. The smell of marijuana wafting from the vehicle quickly escalated the situation. A subsequent search revealed an unloaded German .22 caliber revolver and a stash of marijuana stashed in the front center console. But the gun wasn’t the full extent of Davenport’s legal troubles.

Court documents reveal a concerning pattern of behavior. At the time of the traffic stop, Davenport was already a wanted man in Winnebago County, Illinois, for violating the terms of his probation. That probation stemmed from a prior incident where he was caught with a dealer-quantity of hydrocodone and other prescription pills… at a school. Adding fuel to the fire, an outstanding warrant existed in Madison County, Illinois, for Davenport after he allegedly attempted to assault his counselor with a fist and threatened to return with a gun, vowing to “shoot the place up.”

Davenport pleaded guilty on November 8, 2018, to possessing a firearm as a drug user. The prosecution, led by Assistant United States Attorney Tim Vavricek, successfully argued for a significant prison term, highlighting Davenport’s escalating disregard for the law and public safety. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Waterloo Police Department jointly investigated the case.

This case was brought under the umbrella of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a Department of Justice initiative focused on reducing violent crime through targeted enforcement and community partnerships. PSN prioritizes the most violent offenders and aims to provide lasting crime reduction through prevention and reentry programs. Davenport will serve a three-year term of supervised release following his imprisonment – a grim reminder that there is no parole in the federal system.

Davenport is currently in the custody of the United States Marshal’s Service awaiting transfer to a designated federal prison. Court file information can be found at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl, case file number 18-CR-2055. Follow the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa on Twitter: @USAO_NDIA.