Jury Convicts Sioux City Man of Methamphetamine Trafficking Charges

Johnnie A. Cannon, age 38, from Sioux City, Iowa, formerly from Arkansas, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and three counts of distributing and aiding and abetting another in the distribution of methamphetamine.  Cannon was convicted by a jury on January 18, 2024, after a three-day trial in federal court in Sioux City.  The verdict was returned following close to four hours of jury deliberations.

The evidence at trial showed that Cannon worked with others to distribute at least seven pounds of methamphetamine from January 2021 through March 14, 2023.  Evidence further showed that on at least three occasions in February and March 2023, Cannon supplied ¼, ½ and ½ pounds of methamphetamine to a co-conspirator, who then distributed the methamphetamine to an individual cooperating with law enforcement.  On March 14, 2023, during a traffic stop, Cannon was found in possession of $3,000 in serialized, buy money used by law enforcement minutes before to buy drugs.  In 2010, Cannon was also convicted in federal court in 2010 of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and possession with intent to distribute cocaine.  Cannon was released from federal prison in 2019.  

Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand will be set after a presentence report is prepared.  Cannon remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing.  Cannon faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a $20,000,000 fine, and at least ten years 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 23-4023. 

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