Felon Who Pointed a Ghost Gun at Police Officer Returned to Federal Prison

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

A man who pointed a firearm at a police officer less than two months after he was released from federal prison was sentenced on December 2, 2024, to seven years in federal prison.

Daytrell Washington-Roby, age 26, from Waterloo, Iowa, received the prison term after a July 1, 2024 guilty plea to possession of ammunition by a felon.

Information from sentencing showed that Washington-Roby was previously convicted of possession of a firearm by a user of a controlled substance and sentenced to federal prison in January 2020.  He was released from prison on December 22, 2023.  On February 18, 2024, a concerned citizen called 911 to report a man choking a woman in a car in Waterloo; Washington-Roby and his girlfriend.  A police officer located Washington-Roby in the area of the call shortly thereafter.  Washington-Roby raised his arms, pointing a firearm at the police officer.  Washington-Roby then threw the loaded firearm into the backyard of a residence.  The firearm was an un‑serialized “ghost gun.”  Washington-Roby was on federal supervised release at the time.      

Washington-Roby was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams.  Washington-Roby was sentenced to 60 months’ imprisonment for his possession of ammunition offense.  He was also sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment in his previous federal firearm case for which he was on supervised release, which was imposed consecutively to the 60-month term of imprisonment.  He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Washington-Roby is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

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.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kyndra Lundquist and investigated by a Federal Task Force composed of the Waterloo Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms assisted by the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office and Cedar Falls Police Department.  

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

The case file numbers are 24-CR-2021 and 19-CR-0047.

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