drug felon convicted of distribution of heroin resulting in overdose death
- now facing life sentence -
Contact: Peter Deegan
A man who distributed heroin which resulted in an overdose death was convicted by a jury August 11, 2011, after a four-day trial in federal court in Cedar Rapids.
Samuel Ford, age 35, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was convicted of two counts of distribution of controlled substances. The verdict was returned on August 11th, following about four hours of jury deliberations. Ford had previously been convicted in Cook County, Illinois, of 10 felony drug offenses, including 6 convictions for delivery of cocaine.
The evidence at trial showed that during 2010 and 2011, Ford distributed heroin and crack cocaine from a residence within 1,000 feet of Polk Elementary School and Coe College in Cedar Rapids. On February 19, 2011, Ford distributed heroin from that residence which contributed to the victim’s overdose death after injecting the heroin. On February 23, 2011, Ford distributed heroin and crack cocaine to an undercover agent at a bar in Cedar Rapids. Heroin was found in Ford’s coat when he was arrested on March 3, 2011.
Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Ford remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing. Ford faces a mandatory minimum sentence of life imprisonment, a $20,000,000 fine, $200 in special assessments, and at least 10 years and not more than life on supervised release if released from any imprisonment.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel C. Tvedt and Special Assistant United States Attorney Dan Chatham and was investigated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program by the Cedar Rapids DEA Task Force. The Cedar Rapids Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Task Force consists of the DEA; Linn County Sheriff's Office; Cedar Rapids Police Department; Marion Police Department; Iowa City Police Department; Clinton Police Department; Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; Sixth Judicial District Department of Correctional Services; and Iowa National Guard.
Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is CR 11-0046.
