A Waterloo man has been sentenced to nearly five years in federal prison for illegally possessing a firearm.
Federal prosecutors say 28-year-old Edward Earl Roby Jr. received the sentence Friday after pleading guilty in May to possession of a firearm by a felon.
Court records show Waterloo police first found a gun in Roby’s car during a July 2021 traffic stop. He pleaded guilty later that year but was allowed to remain free while awaiting sentencing.
In February 2022, officers responding to a shots-fired call found Roby in a car that led police on a short chase. Investigators later recovered a .40-caliber handgun along the chase route. DNA testing linked the gun to Roby.
Chief U.S. District Court Judge C.J. Williams sentenced Roby to 57 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.
Roby was previously sentenced in 2022 to 41 months in prison for the earlier gun possession case.
The case was investigated by a federal task force with assistance from Waterloo police, the FBI, ATF, Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office, and Cedar Falls police.
The full press release can be found below;
