A man who distributed heroin to a patient at a Cedar Rapids drug treatment facility was sentenced yesterday to more than two years in federal prison.

James Sullivan, 30, from Marion, Iowa, received the prison term after a May 21, 2012 guilty plea to distributing heroin within 1,000 feet of Coe College.

Evidence at an earlier hearing showed that on December 7, 2011, a friend of Sullivan’s overdosed after using heroin and had to be hospitalized. Three days later, Sullivan visited the friend at the inpatient treatment facility in the hospital, and delivered two loaded syringes containing heroin to the friend.

Sullivan was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade, who found the circumstances of Sullivan’s crime were “extremely aggravated.” Sullivan was sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment. A special assessment of $100 was imposed. He must also serve a six-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

Sullivan is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dan Chatham and investigated by the Ad Hoc Heroin Overdose Task Force which is comprised of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, Cedar Rapids Police Department, 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 CR12-00023-LRR.

 

 

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