U.S. Department
of Justice
Illinois Man Convicted of Methamphetamine and Heroin Crimes
A man who conspired with others to distribute methamphetamine and heroin was convicted by a jury on September 14, 2023, after a four-day trial in federal court in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Michael Garrick Denson, age 33, from Illinois, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and heroin and one count of possession with the intent to distribute heroin. The verdict was returned following about an hour of jury deliberations.
The evidence at trial showed that Denson was a methamphetamine and heroin dealer in the Dubuque, Iowa, area who was nicknamed “Ice Mike.” Between February 2018 and February 2020, Denson conspired with others to distribute methamphetamine and heroin in Dubuque and Cedar Rapids. On July 23, 2019, investigators observed Denson outside of a hotel in Dubuque. Denson had an outstanding warrant for his arrest, and investigators stopped a car he was a passenger in. During the stop, Denson got out of the passenger side of the car and ran from investigators. Investigators located six small baggies containing heroin near where Denson had been seated in the car.
Sentencing before United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Denson remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing. Denson faces a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a $10,000,000 fine, and a lifetime of supervised release following any imprisonment.
The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Adam J. Vander Stoep and Assistant United States Attorney Dan Chatham and was investigated by the Dubuque Drug Task Force (consisting of the Dubuque County Sheriff’s Office and the Dubuque Police Department) and the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 23-CR-01003-CJW.
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