Cherokee, Iowa Man Sentenced to 15 Years for Meth Conspiracy

   Dustin Coates, 36, from Cherokee, Iowa, was convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.  He was sentenced on March 7, 2023, in federal court in Sioux City.  Coates was previously convicted of distribution of a controlled substance in the United States District Court for South Dakota in 2013.

Evidence at the hearing established Coates admitted his involvement in a conspiracy that distributed at least 1.4 kilograms of methamphetamine, including 150 grams of pure methamphetamine, from March 2021, through March 8, 2022.  On March 8, 2022, law enforcement conducted a traffic stop of the vehicle Coates was driving.  Coates threw two baggies of methamphetamine from his person while attempting to flee the traffic stop on foot.  C2oates admitted that he planned to distribute the 60+ grams of pure methamphetamine to other persons.

Coates was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand to 180 months’ imprisonment. He must also serve 10 years of supervised release after the term of imprisonment.  There is no parole in the federal system.

This case was investigated by Tri-State Drug Task Force based in Sioux City, Iowa, that consists of law enforcement personnel from the Drug Enforcement Administration; Sioux City, Iowa, Police Department; Homeland Security Investigations; Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office; South Sioux City, Nebraska, Police Department; Nebraska State Patrol; Iowa National Guard; Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement; United States Marshals Service; South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation; and Woodbury County Attorney’s Office and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kraig R. Hamit.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. 

The case file number is 22-4027.  Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.