A man who sold his prescription oxycodone medication to other inmates for candy bars while being held in Linn County Jail on federal charges was sentenced on December 12, 2012, to over two years in federal prison on the drug charge.

Donald Washburn, age 63, from Marion, Iowa, received the prison term after an August 9, 2012, conviction by jury for distribution of oxycodone. The evidence at trial showed that on April 26, 2012, while he was in custody for federal convictions for fraud, money laundering, and making false statements to a United States Probation Officer, Washburn snuck one of his oxycodone pills into his jail cell and sold it to another inmate. At trial Washburn claimed he had vomited up the pill the day before and the other inmate had retrieved it from his vomit.

Washburn was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade. At sentencing, the judge found Washburn falsely testified at his trial regarding how the other inmate obtained the pill. The judge also found Washburn had offered another inmate $2,500 to testify falsely at Washburn’s sentencing. Washburn was sentenced to 27 months’ imprisonment, which will run consecutive to a 137-month term of imprisonment he is serving on prior federal charges. A special assessment of $100 was imposed. He must also serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dan Chatham and was 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 CR12-00041-LRR.

 

 

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