Fort Dodge Man Receives Prison Term for Distributing Methamphetamine and Possessing a Firearm

A man who distributed methamphetamine and illegally possessed a firearm was sentenced March 27, 2017, to 7 years in federal prison.

Jermiah Preston, age 34, from Fort Dodge, Iowa, received the prison term after a November 7, 2016, guilty plea to one count of felon in possession of a firearm, in Case No. CR15-3048-LTS and one count of distribution of a controlled substance, in Case No. CR16-3028-LTS.

At the guilty plea, Preston admitted that in September of 2015, he knowingly and intentionally aided and abetted in the distribution of methamphetamine in the Fort Dodge area. On November 18, 2015, while attempting to serve an arrest warrant on Preston at a hotel in Fort Dodge, law enforcement observed Preston throw a handgun out the window of the room he was occupying. Shortly thereafter, Preston attempted to climb out of the window and was confronted by law enforcement. Preston was a convicted felon, and was in the possession of the handgun illegally.

Preston was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand. Preston was sentenced to 84 months’ imprisonment. A special assessment of $200 was imposed. He must also serve a 4-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

Preston 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 Shawn Wehde and Special Assistant United States Attorney Ajay Alexander and investigated by the Fort Dodge Police Department, the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement (DNE), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF).

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

The case file numbers are 15-CR-03048 and 16-CR-03028. Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.