Waterloo Woman Sentenced to Federal Prison for Role in Stealing Guns

A woman who helped her boyfriend steal fifteen guns from a house in Waterloo was sentenced on March 9, 2026, to more than three years in federal prison.

Jena Lea Wells, age 30, from Silvis, Illinois, received the prison term after a September 19, 2025, guilty plea to possession of stolen firearms.

Information from the plea and sentencing hearings showed that in June 2024, Wells was living in Waterloo, Iowa. She was in a relationship with Justin Barnes. That month, the two of them stole fifteen guns from an unoccupied house in Waterloo. Wells acted as a lookout while Barnes stole the guns. They took the stolen guns to Wells's residence.

Barnes then tried to sell the guns. During a traffic stop on June 10, 2024, Waterloo police officers located several of the stolen guns in Barnes's backpack. Wells attempted to hide the bag from the officers during the stop by pulling it to where she was sitting in the car. Officers then searched Wells's home twice. During the first search, Wells lied about any stolen firearms being in the home. When officers returned and found additional, stolen firearms at Wells's home during the second search, she falsely denied knowing that the guns were there.

Wells was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams. Wells was sentenced to 41 months' imprisonment. She must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system. Barnes has pled guilty in federal court and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 1, 2026.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.

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

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kyndra Lundquist and investigated by a Federal Task Force composed of the Waterloo Police Department, the 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.plLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link..

The case file number is 25-CR-2022.