Source: United States Department of Justice News
DAVENPORT, IA –A Davenport man was sentenced yesterday to 20 years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm and two counts of tampering with a witness.
In August 2022, Roylee Richardson, Jr., age 32, went to trial and was found guilty by a federal jury. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, at approximately 11:00 a.m. on February 7, 2021, Davenport Police Department officers were dispatched to an apartment complex at 3348 Heatherton Drive in Davenport, related to shots fired. Officers located spent casings and two bullet fragments. Richardson was identified as the shooter, and officers subsequently located Richardson attempting to scale off a second-story balcony. Officers then located a loaded pistol inside of the apartment that Richardson had fled from. After being arrested, Richardson repeatedly contacted the victim, and attempted to tamper with the witness’s testimony.
This is the third time Richardson has been convicted for charges related to a shooting. In November 2008, Richardson was convicted of Willful Injury Resulting in Bodily Injury and Intimidation with a Dangerous Weapon, in the Iowa District Court for Scott County. In July 2016, Richardson was convicted of Intimidation with a Dangerous Weapon with Intent, Possession of a Firearm or Offensive Weapon by a Felon, Willful Injury Resulting in Bodily Injury, and Going Armed with Intent, in the Iowa District Court for Scott County.
Richardson was sentenced to the maximum term of imprisonment for each offense, with the sentences to be served concurrently: ten years in prison for the firearm conviction and twenty years in prison for the witness tampering charges. After his prison term, Richardson was ordered to serve a three-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.
United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This case was investigated by the Davenport Police Department. 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. In May 2021, the Department of Justice 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.