Council Bluffs Man Sentenced On Methamphetamine Conspiracy And Firearm Charges

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA – On February 15, 2013, Clifford Arthur Ellis, age 28, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, was sentenced in United States District Court in Council Bluffs on the charges of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a firearm in relation to drug trafficking, announced United States Attorney Nicholas A. Klinefeldt. United States District Court Judge Stephanie M. Rose sentenced Ellis to 175 months imprisonment regarding the drug conspiracy, and 60 months on the firearms charge, with the sentences to be served consecutively, that is one in addition to the other, for a total sentence of 235 months imprisonment. The Judge also ordered Ellis to serve 5 years of supervised release following his imprisonment. The Court also ordered Ellis to forfeit the firearm and ammunition which he had possessed, and to pay a $200.00 special assessment for the Crime Victim Fund. Ellis remains in the custody of the United States Marshal pending designation of the Federal Bureau of Prisons facility at which he will serve his sentence.

Ellis was sentenced upon his plea of guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a firearm during and in the course of the conspiracy. The charges arose out of the investigation by the SouthWest Iowa Narcotics Task Force of a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, which conspiracy began in mid-2011, and was continued by some of the coconspirators, including Ellis, until at least April 1, 2012. For his involvement in the conspiracy, Ellis admitted responsibility for approximately 1.36 kilograms of methamphetamine. Ellis also regularly carried a loaded .45 caliber pistol, and then, later, a loaded 9mm pistol upon his person in the course of the conspiracy. On January 4, 2012, Ellis and two other persons were arrested by Council Bluffs Police Officers in the course of the burglary of a truck parked in an apartment parking lot in Council Bluffs. The 9mm pistol was recovered from Ellis at that time. On April 1, 2012, an Iowa State Patrol Trooper and Mills County Sheriff Deputies arrested Ellis and another person in Mills County carrying approximately one ounce of methamphetamine for distribution.

This investigation was conducted by the SouthWest Iowa Narcotics Task Force, the Council Bluffs, Iowa, Police Department, the Mills County Sheriff’s Department, and the Iowa State Patrol. The Pottawattamie County Attorney’s Office and the Mills County Attorney’s Office also aided in this case, which was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

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