Drug dealer with prior conviction pleads guilty to meth conspiracy
Contact: Peter Deegan
A man with a prior drug conviction who conspired to distribute methamphetamine pled guilty on June 9, 2010, in federal court in Sioux City.
Tyson Winters, 34, from Fort Dodge, Iowa, was convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Winters was previously convicted of manufacture of methamphetamine on June 2, 2003, in the Iowa District Court for Hardin County.
At the plea hearing, Winters admitted his involvement in a conspiracy that distributed at least 1500 grams of methamphetamine from about October 2008 through February 2010, in the Fort Dodge area. During the conspiracy, Winters distributed methamphetamine within 1000 feet of Duncombe Elementary School in Fort Dodge. On February 21, 2010, Winters possessed approximately 34.62 grams of methamphetamine and intended to distribute some or all of the methamphetamine to another.
Sentencing before United States District Court Judge Mark W. Bennett will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Winters remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing. On the conspiracy conviction, Winters faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a $16,000,000 fine, a $100 special assessment, and 10 years up to life of supervised release following any imprisonment. On the possession with intent conviction, Winters faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a $4,000,000 fine, a $100 special assessment, and 8 years up to life of supervised release following any imprisonment.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shawn S. Wehde and was investigated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program of the United States Department of Justice through a cooperative effort of the Fort Dodge Police Department, the Webster County Sheriff’s Office, the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.
Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is 10-3007.
