Conspiring to Distribute 15 Pounds of Ice Methamphetamine Lands Cedar Rapids Man in Federal Prison for 14 Years

A man who obtained more than 15 pounds of ice methamphetamine for redistribution in the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, area was sentenced July 11, 2019, to 14 years in federal prison.

Jonathan James Toomer, age 44, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after a November 2, 2018, guilty plea to conspiring to distribute methamphetamine near a school and playground and possessing a firearm as an unlawful drug user.

Evidence at a prior hearing showed that, beginning in 2016, Toomer sold methamphetamine in the Cedar Rapids area.  In the fall of 2017, Toomer acquired a California source for methamphetamine.  Over the next approximately nine months, Toomer and his co-conspirators took multiple trips to California to obtain pounds of ice methamphetamine for resale in Cedar Rapids.  In January 2018, officers executed a warrant at defendant’s house and camper in Hiawatha, Iowa.  Inside defendant’s camper, the officers found approximately 80 grams of ice methamphetamine, drug ledgers, and a loaded handgun.  Officers also seized over $44,000 in cash proceeds of Toomer’s prior methamphetamine sales inside a safe in the house.

Toomer also involved his minor child in the drug scheme, including taking him on trips to California to obtain methamphetamine.  After Toomer was arrested on the federal drug charge, he spoke to his son from jail, directing him to pick up a package of methamphetamine that had been delivered to his trailer, and to contact his drug source in California and “stop all calls.” 

Toomer was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand.  Toomer was sentenced to 168 months’ imprisonment.  He was ordered to forfeit a handgun and $78,947 in drug proceeds.  He must also serve a 10-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

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

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Task Force consisting of the DEA; the Linn County Sheriff's Office; the Cedar Rapids Police Department; the Marion Police Department; and the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, and prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Drew Inman and Assistant United States Attorney Dan Chatham. 

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

The case file number is 18-CR-00050-LTS-MAR.

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