Twenty Year Old Felon who Illegally Possessed a Firearm in Cedar Rapids Sentenced to Federal Prison (DOJ)

A convicted felon who illegally possessed a firearm was sentenced December 10, 2024, to 78 months in federal prison.

Garnett Adam Propst, age 20, from Burlington, Iowa, received the prison term after a June 26, 2024 guilty plea to two counts of aiding and abetting false statements during the purchase of a firearm and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon. On September 12, 2023, while Propst was on high-risk supervision for a prior state felony offense, and prohibited from possessing firearms, he obtained and possessed a Beretta handgun. Propst then later used that firearm on September 30, 2023, firing multiple shots into a residence in Cedar Rapids. After the "shots fired" incident, Propst provided the firearm to Lawrence Lamar Newell, who was also a felon.

Propst was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams. Propst was sentenced to 78 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.

Propst 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, the Cedar Rapids Police Department, and the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement.

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.

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

The case file number is 24-CR- 00026.

Follow us on X @USAO_NDIA.