Felon Who Ran from the Police While Armed and Resisted Officers Sentenced to Serve Time in Federal Prison

A man who possessed a firearm as a felon was sentenced today to 57 months in federal prison.

Lawrence Lamar Newell, III, age 20, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after an April 12, 2024 guilty plea to one count of possessing a firearm as a felon. Newell had previously been convicted of burglary in the second degree and assault while displaying a dangerous weapon.

During a traffic stop, Newell, who was a passenger in a car, tried to run from police on foot. Newell and a law enforcement officer struggled on the ground and Newell tried, multiple times to reach for a gun located in his waistband. During the struggle, Newell retrieved the firearm from his waistband and continued to resist commands to drop the gun.

Newell was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams. Newell was sentenced to 57 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.

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

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Nicole L. Nagin, and it was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Cedar Rapids Police Department.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). PSN is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice's violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime.

Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders works together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is 24-CR-00007.

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