Illinois Man Sentenced to Federal Prison After Discharging a Firearm at Gas Station in Cedar Rapids

A convicted felon who discharged a firearm into the air at a gas station in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in November 2023 was sentenced today to more than six years in federal prison.

Zontavian Demetrius Bush, age 40, from Bloomington, Illinois, received the prison term after a March 27, 2024, guilty plea to possession of firearm by a felon.

At the guilty plea, Bush admitted possessing two firearms. Evidence in the case showed that he discharged a firearm at a gas station during an altercation. Bush has prior convictions for multiple felonies including a drug trafficking offense, multiple domestic offenses, and stalking offenses.

Bush was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams. Bush was sentenced to 70 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.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

Bush 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 Emily K. Nydle and investigated by the Cedar Rapids Safe Streets Task Force. The task force is composed of representatives from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Cedar Rapids Police Department with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

The case file number is 24-cr-14.

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