Man Sentenced to More Than 8 Years in Federal Prison for Distributing Methamphetamine

ROCKFORD — A Crystal Lake, Ill., man has been sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison for distributing methamphetamine.  

JAMES ETTLESON, 39, pleaded guilty last year to one count of distributing more than 50 grams of methamphetamine, a Schedule II controlled substance.  U.S. District Judge Iain D. Johnston imposed a 100-month prison sentence during a hearing on Monday at the federal courthouse in Rockford.

In a plea agreement, Ettleson admitted that from 2022 to 2024, he repeatedly ordered controlled substances to be delivered to him through the mail via the “dark web,” and then advertised to sell those controlled substances on Facebook.  In April 2023, Ettleson arranged the order and sale of a package containing 113.2 grams of methamphetamine to an undercover law enforcement officer.   

The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Mary Johnson, Acting Postal Inspector in Charge of the Chicago Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.  The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Theodora Anderson.