Iowa City Men Sentenced for Heroin Distribution Conspiracy

DAVENPORT, IA – On August 29, 2016, Alfred Latrell Jackson, 26, Jason Rahaman Dawson, 45, and Curtis Lee Kemp, 49, all of Iowa City, Iowa, were sentenced by United States District Court Judge Stephanie M. Rose for their role in a heroin distribution ring in Iowa City, announced United States Attorney Kevin E. VanderSchel.

Dawson’s sentence follows his February 24, 2016, guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin. Dawson was sentenced to 144 months in prison and ordered to serve four (4) years of supervised release following his prison term.

Kemp and Jackson’s sentences follow April 12, 2016, jury verdicts that found Jackson guilty of conspiracy to distribute at least 100 grams of heroin, and Kemp guilty of conspiracy to distribute heroin and three counts of distribution of heroin. Jackson was sentenced to 188 months in prison and ordered to serve four (4) years of supervised release following his prison term. Kemp was sentenced to 84 months in prison and three (3) years of supervised release to follow his prison terms.

According to Dawson’s plea agreement and trial testimony, from December 2013 to approximately May 7, 2015, Alfred Jackson gave Jason Dawson large sums of heroin to sell in the Iowa City area. Dawson then gave most of the proceeds back to Jackson, owing Jackson up to $14,000 at a time. Dawson had approximately twenty heroin customers and used others to distribute heroin on his behalf, including Curtis Kemp. Between February 2015 and May 2015, both Kemp and Dawson sold heroin to an undercover officer on three separate occasions. This drug conspiracy involved more than 3,300 grams of heroin.

This matter was investigated by the Johnson County Drug Task Force, Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, Muscatine County Drug Task Force, Drug Enforcement Administration and Iowa City Police Department. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.