Repeat Offender Sentenced for Methamphetamine Possession

Acting United States Attorney Matthew R. Molsen announced that Hannie Rice, 67, formerly of Oakland, Nebraska, was sentenced on April 16, 2025 in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska, for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. United States District Court Judge Brian C. Buescher sentenced Rice to 188 months’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. After Rice’s release from prison, he will begin a four-year term of supervised release.

In January 2023, a Burt County sheriff’s deputy received information from arrested individuals that Rice was a meth distributor. On May 6, 2023, sheriff’s deputies executed a search warrant at Rice’s home in Oakland. After being advised of his Miranda rights, Rice told a deputy that there was meth in his bedroom. Rice took the deputy to his bedroom, where the deputy found approximately 35 grams of meth inside of a lock box.

Postal records showed that eight packages, weighing from four ounces up to four pounds seven ounces, were mailed from California to Rice’s residence since the fall of 2022. These postal records corroborated the information deputies received from the arrested individuals that Rice was receiving three-pound packages of meth through the mail from California.

At sentencing, Rice’s advisory sentencing range was increased because of multiple California convictions involving possessing meth and marijuana for sale.

This case was investigated by the Burt County Sheriff’s Office, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.