Methamphetamine Trafficker Who Purchased Drugs from Mexico Sentenced to Federal Prison

A man who purchased two pounds of methamphetamine to sell in Iowa was sentenced today to more than twelve years in federal prison. 

Drew Scarborough, age 25, from Evansdale, Iowa, received the prison term after a December 28, 2022 guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.

Information at sentencing showed that, in 2020, Scarborough became involved in a large-scale drug trafficking organization with ties to organized crime in Mexico.  Scarborough purchased two pounds of methamphetamine from a source in Mexico, but due to his failure to pay the source, he was unable to obtain additional methamphetamine.  Scarborough had previously threatened to kill another member of the drug conspiracy on behalf of the source.

Scarborough was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams.  Scarborough was sentenced to 150 months’ imprisonment, and he must also serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Scarborough 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 Attorneys Dillan Edwards and Emily Nydle.  This case was investigated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program of the United States Department of Justice through a cooperative effort of the Tri-County Drug Enforcement Task Force, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office, the Green County Sheriff’s Office, and the Elbert County, Colorado Sheriff’s Office. 

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

The case file number is 21-CR-02049.

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