Felon Sentenced to Prison for Possession of a Firearm Found During Traffic Stop

A man who possessed a firearm as a felon was sentenced on April 22, 2026, to 24 months in federal prison.

Keontis Dontrell Cunningham, age 29, from Chicago, received the prison term after a November 14, 2025, guilty plea to possession of a firearm by a felon.

In 2024, as he was driving, law enforcement officers stopped Cunningham based on an outstanding warrant. During the traffic stop, officers located a gun in the car. Cunningham was prohibited from possessing firearms because of prior felony convictions, including an aggravated assault conviction from Tennessee.

Cunningham was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams. Cunningham was sentenced to 24 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. Cunningham was released on the bond previously set and is to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on a date yet to be set.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Nicole L. Nagin and Dan Chatham and investigated by the Cedar Rapids Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. 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.

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-00062.