TWO MEN PLEAD GUILTY TO METH CONSPIRACY
Contact: Peter Deegan
Two men who conspired to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine pled guilty February 28, 2011, in federal court in Sioux City.
Keith R. Robinson, 53, from Wesley, Iowa, and Kevin Nelson, 50, from Algona, Iowa, pled guilty to conspiring to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine. On February 4, 2001, Robinson was previously convicted of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, in the Iowa District Court for Hancock County.
At the plea hearings, Robinson and Nelson admitted to conspiring to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine from 2006 through about 2008 in and around Kossuth County, Iowa. Robinson and Nelson purchased pseudoephedrine pills and other materials along with several others in and around Kossuth County and also on trips to Minnesota and the Des Moines area for use in manufacturing methamphetamine. Robinson and Nelson received methamphetamine in exchange for their assistance.
Sentencing before United States District Court Judge Mark W. Bennett will be set after presentence reports are prepared. Both men remain in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing. Robinson faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a $20,000,000 fine, a special assessment of $100, and 10 years up to life of supervised release following any imprisonment. Nelson faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a $10,000,000 fine, a special assessment of $100, and 5 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 by the Kossuth County Sheriff’s Office, Clay County Sheriff’s Office, Iowa Department of Narcotics Enforcement, and 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 10-3014.
