Northern District of Iowa

A man who killed a taxi driver during a robbery on April 29, 2011, was sentenced today to 20 years in federal prison.

Johnathan DeWayne Mitchell, age 44, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after a guilty plea to one count of robbery of the taxi, which was entered as trial commenced on August 29, 2022. The maximum penalty for Mitchell's crime was 20 years’ imprisonment.

Evidence admitted at the trial, before the plea was entered showed the driver died of multiple stab wounds she sustained during the robbery. Additionally, the sentencing judge found evidence admitted at trial and sentencing showed Mitchell's killing of the driver was premeditated, and intentionally done during the robbery, and Mitchell used the robbery proceeds to purchase crack cocaine.

Mitchell was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand. Mitchell was sentenced to the statutory maximum sentence of 240 months’ imprisonment. He was ordered to make $5000 in restitution to the owner of the cab and $24,663.10 to the Iowa Crime Victim Fund. He must also serve a 3-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

Mitchell is being held in the United States Marshal's custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Patrick Reinert and Dillan Edwards and was investigated by the Cedar Rapids Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

The case file number is 16-CR-00029-LTS. Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.