Sioux City Man to Federal Prison for Meth Conspiracy

A man who conspired to distribute methamphetamine was sentenced December 16, 2021, to four years in federal prison.

Lawrence Parmelee, 43, from Sioux City, Iowa, received the prison term after a July 29, 2021, guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

Evidence showed that Parmelee was involved in a conspiracy from March 2019 through December 2019 that distributed more than 1,300 grams of methamphetamine in the Sioux City area.  On August 14, 2019, Parmelee distributed over 26 grams of actual (pure) methamphetamine to an individual cooperating with law enforcement.  Parmelee would obtain distribution quantities of methamphetamine for use/redistribution and also assisted others (by driving/ transporting them to/from drug transactions) for which Parmelee was compensated with methamphetamine for use/re-distribution.

Parmelee was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand.  Parmelee was sentenced to 48 months’ imprisonment.  Parmelee must also serve a four-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.  Parmelee 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 Attorney Shawn S. Wehde and investigated by Tri-State Drug Task Force based in Sioux City, Iowa, that consists of law enforcement personnel from the Drug Enforcement Administration; Sioux City, Iowa, 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 21-4038. 

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