Jury Convicts Akron Man of Meth Conspiracy

A man who conspired to distribute methamphetamine was convicted by a jury on December 6, 2023, after a three-day trial in federal court in Sioux City.

Britt Lander, 42, from Akron, Iowa, was convicted of conspiring to distribute more than 50 grams of pure methamphetamine.  The verdict was returned after about 1 hour of jury deliberations.  In 2012, Lander was previously convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa.

The evidence at trial showed that Lander, along with others, conspired to receive methamphetamine by mail and vehicle from California and Mexico to distribute in the Sioux City and Akron, Iowa areas.  Evidence also showed Lander assisted others in the unloading of 5-10 pound loads of methamphetamine transported to rural properties associated with Lander. Evidence also included an audio/video recording of Lander and another using cutting tools to remove 7 kilograms of methamphetamine from inside a spare tire that was used to transport the methamphetamine from Mexico. 

Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand will be set after a presentence report is prepared.  Lander remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing.  Lander faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a $20,000,000 fine, and 10 years up to life of supervised release following any imprisonment.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shawn S. Wehde and was investigated by the Tri-State Drug Task Force based in Sioux City, Iowa, that consists of law enforcement personnel from the Drug Enforcement Administration; Sioux City 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.   

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

The case file number is 22-4071. 

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