Iowa Man Sentenced to 15 Years for Drug and Firearm Offenses

Acting United States Attorney Jan Sharp announced that Jonathan Pilgreen, 30, of Griswold, Iowa, was sentenced today in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska, for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and for using a firearm during a drug trafficking crime. United States District Court Judge Brian C. Buescher sentenced Pilgreen to ten years of imprisonment on the drug conspiracy charge and a consecutive five-year sentence for the gun charge. There is no parole in the federal system.  After serving his fifteen years, Pilgreen will begin a five-year term of supervised release.

On November 11, 2020, Omaha Police officers responded to an overdose at an Omaha hotel. Pilgreen had overdosed on a couch with drugs and a disassembled rifle nearby. A search warrant for the room recovered more than 400 grams of actual methamphetamine. A rifle was found under the bed and another rifle on a table. Officers also found pills of Xanax and fentanyl.

This case was part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally based strategies to reduce violent crime.

This case was investigated by the Omaha Police Department.