man who ate methamphetamine while fleeing police sentenced to 20 years in federal prison
Contact: Peter Deegan
A man who led Cedar Rapids police on a chase while throwing methamphetamine out the window of his truck, and then attempted to eat the remaining methamphetamine before officers approached was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in federal prison for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine.
Michael Sean Brecht, age 28, from Cedar Rapids, received the prison term after a February 11, 2011 guilty plea to conspiring to distribute 50 grams or more of pure methamphetamine after a prior felony drug conviction.
In a plea agreement, Brecht admitted that on July 8, 2010, he attempted to elude officers after obtaining methamphetamine from a residence on B Street SE in Cedar Rapids. During the pursuit Brecht failed to stop at stop signs and threw methamphetamine out the window. Just before stopping his truck, Brecht threw a baggie containing methamphetamine residue to the curb near the baseball field at Daniels Park in Cedar Rapids. Prior to stopping the truck, Brecht had attempted to eat the remaining methamphetamine.
Brecht was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade. Brecht was sentenced to 240 months’ imprisonment. A special assessment of $100 was imposed. He must also serve a 10-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system. Brecht is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Dan Chatham and investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Task Force consisting of the DEA; the Department of Homeland Security; the Linn County Sheriff's Office; the Cedar Rapids Police Department; the Marion Police Department; the Iowa City Police Department; the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the Sixth Judicial District Department of Correctional Services; and the Iowa National Guard.
Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is CR10-0090-7-LRR.
