East Moline Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Drug Charge

DAVENPORT, Iowa – An East Moline, Illinois man, Christopher Ray Hicks, was sentenced on Wednesday, October 13, 2021, by United States District Court Chief Judge John A. Jarvey to 180 months in prison for Conspiracy to Distribute 50 Grams or More of Methamphetamine. Hicks was ordered to serve five years of supervised release to follow his prison term and pay $100 to the Crime Victims’ Fund.

In October 2019, Hicks, age 39, was identified as a methamphetamine distributor in the Quad Cities. Following several controlled buys of methamphetamine, law enforcement executed a search warrant on Hicks’s residence and located methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and evidence suggestive of drug trafficking. In November 2019, Hicks had an active warrant for his arrest and law enforcement located him in Davenport. After arresting him, officers searched Hicks’s vehicle and located, among other things, a large, plastic-wrapped candle stuffed with a pound of methamphetamine. In a post-Miranda statement, Hicks admitted conspiring with Luis Hernandez-Barajas and others to distribute methamphetamine. On October 31, 2020, Hicks pleaded guilty to the offense.

Acting United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The Quad City Metropolitan Enforcement Group investigated the case.