Omaha Woman Sentenced to 132 Months for Methamphetamine Conspiracy

United States Attorney Joe Kelly announced that Chelsea Leigh Short, 28, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced on November 16, 2020, by Senior United States District Judge Joseph F. Bataillon for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine.  Short received a sentence of 132 months with a five-year term of supervised release to follow.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Beginning in mid-2018, a Drug Enforcement Administration task force started investigating the methamphetamine distribution operation of David Short in the Omaha metro area.  This investigation included a court ordered Title III interception of phone calls and text messages, allowing agents to identify the scope of the conspiracy and its members.  Chelsea Short, the wife of David Short, was intercepted on numerous occasions buying and selling pound quantities of methamphetamine.  On December 8, 2018, DEA agents and officers with the Omaha Police Department attempted to arrest Chelsea Short after she picked up a ½ pound of methamphetamine.  Chelsea Short fled in her vehicle leading to a pursuit.  OPD’s air unit, Able 1, followed Chelsea Short into Iowa and back where she was eventually stopped with the methamphetamine.

Matters involving other conspirators are still pending, with trial for David Short set for January 5, 2021, in Omaha, Nebraska.

This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF. 

This case was investigated by the DEA, OPD, Nebraska State Patrol, IRS’s Criminal Investigations, and the Pottawattamie County (Iowa) Sheriff’s Office.