Maquoketa Man Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Distribute Heroin and Fentanyl Analogue Resulting in Death and Serious Bodily Injuries

A man who conspired to distribute a mixture containing heroin and a drug called furanylfentanyl to one individual who died and two others who were seriously injured pled guilty today in federal court in Cedar Rapids.

Joshua Allen Manning, age 22, from Maquoketa, Iowa, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to distribute heroin and furanylfentanyl resulting in death and serious bodily injury. 

At the plea hearing, Manning admitted he agreed to distribute the substances during March 2016.  Manning admitted two individuals suffered serious bodily injury and another died after using the substances on March 3, 2016.  Under federal law, drugs that are similar to substances listed in the controlled substance schedules are considered “controlled substance analogues,” and it is illegal to distribute them just as it is to distribute substances such as cocaine, heroin, and marijuana.  Furanylfentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid, and is an analogue of fentanyl. 

Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand will be set after a presentence report is prepared.  Manning remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing.  Manning faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a $1,000,000 fine, $100 in special assessments, and up to a lifetime of supervised release following any imprisonment.

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

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

The case file number is 16-CR-01031-LTS.

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