Cedar Rapids Man Sent to Federal Prison After Receiving Fifty Pounds of Methamphetamine for Resale

A man who distributed pounds of methamphetamine was sentenced on April 15, 2021, to more than 20 years in federal prison.

Jamie Allen Medulan, age 46, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after an October 22, 2020 guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possessing a firearm during and in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

On July 13, 2020, officers searched a hotel room being used by Medulan and located more than five kilograms of “ice” methamphetamine, two firearms, $31,448 in cash, and other evidence of drug trafficking.  Medulan later admitted receiving more than 50 pounds of methamphetamine from his source over the course of months.  Medulan’s criminal history includes convictions in 31 separate cases, including convictions related to theft, assault, burglary, and manufacturing of methamphetamine.

Medulan was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams.  Medulan was sentenced to 251 months’ imprisonment.  He must also serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.  Medulan is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN).  PSN is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime.  Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.  As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

This case is also part of Project Guardian, the Department of Justice’s signature initiative to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws. Initiated by the Attorney General in the fall of 2019, Project Guardian draws upon the Department’s past successful programs to reduce gun violence; enhances coordination of federal, state, local, and tribal authorities in investigating and prosecuting gun crimes; improves information-sharing by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives when a prohibited individual attempts to purchase a firearm and is denied by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), to include taking appropriate actions when a prospective purchaser is denied by the NICS for mental health reasons; and ensures that federal resources are directed at the criminals posing the greatest threat to our communities.  For more information about Project Guardian, please see /media/1122011/download?inline.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Emily K. Nydle and investigated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program of the United States Department of Justice through a cooperative effort of by the Cedar Rapids Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Linn County Sheriff’s Office, the Marion Police Department, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. 

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.  The case file number is 20-CR-55.

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