Two men from the Quad Cities were sentenced to federal prison on January 27, 2026, for crimes involving firearms and drugs. Court documents show that Jewahn Lequez Walton, 28, and Preston Manning McDowell Jr., 26, threw loaded guns from a vehicle driven by Walton as they tried to avoid law enforcement in June 2024.
In a separate incident in July 2024, McDowell was found with another firearm in Davenport. He is not allowed to have firearms because of previous felony convictions, including a 2022 conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm in the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois.
Walton was arrested in May 2025 and found with cocaine intended for distribution and a loaded gun. He is also barred from having firearms due to a 2018 felony conviction for possession with intent to distribute cocaine in the Illinois Circuit Court for Rock Island County.
McDowell received a sentence of 72 months in prison, which will be served consecutively to his supervised revocation sentence. He will also have three years of supervised release after his prison term. Walton was sentenced to 100 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Federal law does not allow parole.
United States Attorney David C. Waterman of the Southern District of Iowa announced the sentences. The case was investigated by the Davenport Police Department and the Bettendorf 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. On May 26, 2021, the department 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. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit Justice.gov/PSN,” according to the press release.
