mason city man pleads guilty to meth conspiracy
Contact: Peter Deegan
A man who conspired to distribute methamphetamine pled guilty March 22, 2010, in federal court in Cedar Rapids.
Gary Lee Winters, Jr., 47, from Mason City, Iowa, was convicted of conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine. On December 21, 1999, Winters was convicted in federal court of possession with intent to distribute amphetamine and Winters was also convicted on April 6, 1998, in Iowa District Court for Floyd County of possession with intent to deliver marijuana.
At the plea hearing, Winters admitted his involvement in a conspiracy that distributed at least 500 grams of methamphetamine from about 2008 through December 2009. Winters purchased multiple ounces of methamphetamine from a number of sources and sold ounces of methamphetamine to a number of people in and around the Mason City area. On December 1, 2009, after a traffic stop, officers seized approximately 83.83 grams of methamphetamine during a search of Winters and his vehicle.
Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Winters remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing. Winters faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, an $8,000,000 fine, a special assessment of $100, and at least 10 years and 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 by the Mason City Police Department, the Cerro Gordo 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 10-3003.
