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Press Release

Sioux City Man Tied to Mexican Drug Cartel Sentenced to More Than 28 Years in Federal Prison

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Iowa

A Sioux City man was sentenced today to more than 28 years in federal prison.

Freddie Summerville, age 56, from Sioux City, received the prison term after a March 11, 2025, guilty plea to two counts of a six-count Indictment.

Count 1 charged conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl and Count 6 charged possession of a firearm during and in furtherance of drug trafficking.

One of Summerville’s known co-conspirators, Ramon Serrano, 31, of San Bernardino, California, was sentenced on December 12, 2024, to 151 months’ imprisonment.  Another co-conspirator, Adrian Ibarra-Manzo, 29, of San Diego, California was sentenced on November 14, 2024, to 132 months’ imprisonment.

Evidence in the case revealed Summerville was part of a conspiracy based in Mexico and California that was responsible for distributing approximately 100 pounds of methamphetamine and at least a pound of fentanyl in the Sioux City area.  On January 3, 2024, Summerville was the subject of a traffic stop, where officers located methamphetamine, approximately 70 pills containing fentanyl, as well as drug paraphernalia, drug ledgers, cash and a loaded firearm.  Summerville admitted to law enforcement that he had received 100 pounds of methamphetamine and an unknown quantity of fentanyl from his source of supply in Mexico. 

Summerville was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand to 340 months’ imprisonment.  He must also serve a 5-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Summerville is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

These cases were investigated by the DEA Tri-State Drug Task Force and the Sioux City Police Department and were prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ron Timmons.

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

The case file numbers are 24-4028 and 24-4022.

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Updated September 29, 2025

Topics
Drug Trafficking
Firearms Offenses