Cedar Rapids man faces up to 40 years for drug shooting near Kirkwood College

A Cedar Rapids man faces up to 40 years in federal prison for drugs and firearms charges after his drug deal went bad last August, near Kirkwood Community College, when a buyer tried to rip him off and he responded by shooting at him.

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Seth John Lee McGraw, 24, was initially charged in Linn County District Court will willful injury causing serious injury, gun- and drug-related charges but those were dismissed in February when federal prosecutors decided to pursue charges.

McGraw was indicted in January on three charges and pleaded to those last week in U.S. District Court — possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and possession of an unregistered firearm.

In the plea, McGraw admitted to setting up a drug deal Aug. 23, 2024 over Snapchat and then meeting for the exchange in the parking lot of Scooter’s Coffee at 6600 Kirkwood Blvd., which is across from Kirkwood Community College. The buyer — “A.R.-B” — as identified in court documents — got into McGraw’s car and made the drug transaction.

After A.R.-B received the quarter-pound of marijuana, he took back his money and got out of the car, according to the plea. McGraw drove after him as he was running from the area, but McGraw pulled out a Taurus 9 mm pistol and fired multiple shots, two striking the buyer. He had gunshot injuries to his left arm and left leg, resulting in bone fractures, the plea stated.

McGraw drove back to his apartment, but was later arrested and eventually charged in state court.

After McGraw was arrested and while he was in the Cedar Rapids Police Department, he made multiple calls to different individuals, asking them to go to his apartment and remove evidence before police searched it, according to the plea. One of those individuals was his ex-girlfriend who he told different places to look for drugs in the apartment and asked her to remove those.

He told other friends to also go to the apartment and remove drugs. He suggested they get a truck to block the apartment view from police officers while removing drugs and taking them to a next-door neighbor’s apartment.

McGraw also suggested they could create a “commotion” in order to get law enforcement to leave the area of his apartment while they removed drugs, the plea stated.

Search of apartment yielded guns, cash, drugs

According to the plea, McGraw possessed multiple firearms on Aug. 24, including: a Taurus 9 mm pistol; Glock 9 mm pistol; PSA Dagger Compact 9 mm pistol; and a .22 caliber short-barreled rifle. The Taurus gun was stolen.

During a search of McGraw’s apartment on Aug. 24, 2024, law enforcement found seven boxes of THC vape pens on his bed, several boxes of vape pens on the floor by the closet and two more vape pens in the closet, the plea stated.

In another room, officers found a safe that contained several vacuum-sealed bags with about 8,977 grams of marijuana, various containers of 9 mm ammunition, $6,510 in cash, two firearms, 9 mm magazines and extended large capacity magazines with one loaded with 33 rounds of ammunition and additional THC vape refills.

Also in the safe was a bag of about 405 grams of psilocin mushrooms and a plastic container of about 115 gram of MDMA — ecstasy or molly.

In the same room as the safe, police found the short-barreled rifle in a closet and plastic storage containers with .22 caliber ammunition and magazines.

In the living room, officer found the stolen Taurus 9 mm with the magazine, which had McGraw’s fingerprints on it. Officers also found plastic bags with more than 20 grams of marijuana, a digital scale and four boxes of THC vape pens.

More THC products, including edibles, were found in the kitchen, according to the plea.

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