The only reason Dontavius Sharkey’s criminal record isn’t longer, U.S. District Judge Stephanie Rose said, might be that he’s spent so much of his adult life in custody for other crimes. Now he’s going back to prison for decades longer.
Sharkey, 27, of Des Moines was sentenced Wednesday to 32 years in prison after being convicted in October on a number of federal firearm offenses. Prosecutors said Sharkey, a member of the C-Block street gang, possessed and regularly carried a number of weapons, including a pistol illegally modified to act as a machine gun, despite being ineligible due to prior felonies, and that he conspired with other associates to make illegal “straw purchases” of guns on his behalf.
At trial, Sharkey was found guilty of six of the eight charges against him, but he was notably acquitted of illegally possessing firearms on June 18, 2022. That’s the day prosecutors said Sharkey, just four months into his supervised release on a previous gun conviction, opened fire on a rival gang member standing in a crowd at a baby shower, seriously injuring three minors.