COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports that on Monday, April 12th, United States District Court Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger sentenced 35-year-old David Robert Blake Vanderpool, of Council Bluffs, to 50 months (4.1 years) in prison for knowingly possessing a short barrel shotgun that was not registered to him. Vanderpool was ordered to serve three years of supervised release to follow his prison term and pay a $100 special assessment to the Crime Victims’ Fund. There is no parole in the federal system.

On June 23, 2020, the Iowa State Patrol conducted a traffic stop on Vanderpool for speeding on Interstate 29. During the stop, troopers observed a sawed-off shotgun, found to be loaded, on the backseat of Vanderpool’s car. A check of the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record by law enforcement found the firearm was not registered to him. Vanderpool pleaded guilty on November 20, 2020, to the firearm charge.

The matter was investigated by the Iowa State Patrol and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the
Southern District of Iowa.