Lincoln Man Convicted of Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine

United States Attorney Joseph P. Kelly announced that on February 23, 2018, Samuel Turner, 50, of Lincoln, Nebraska, was convicted by a federal jury of possession with intent to distribute five grams or more of methamphetamine actual.  The trial began in federal court in Lincoln on Tuesday, February 20^th, before Senior United States District Judge Richard G. Kopf.  The jury received the case on Thursday afternoon and deliberated for a total of approximately five hours before returning their verdict on Friday morning.

On the late evening of August 9, 2017, officers of the Lincoln Police Department, investigating a disturbance call, contacted Turner outside his residence in a north Lincoln trailer park.  They asked Turner if he knew the suspect in the disturbance call.  Turner said he did not.  During this conversation, Turner asked one of the officers to lower his flashlight beam, so that it was not shining in his eyes.  When the officer did as requested, officers saw that Turner was standing with one of his feet on a baggie of what appeared to be methamphetamine.  Turner failed to comply with officer commands to place his hands on a vehicle and, instead, he reached down, picked up the bag and threw it under the vehicle.  Officers retrieved that bag, which was found by the Nebraska State Patrol Crime Lab to contain at least 31 grams of pure methamphetamine, along with a smaller bag containing approximately 1 gram of methamphetamine, which was found nearby. 

This case was investigated by the Lincoln/Lancaster County Drug Task Force.