Sioux City, Iowa — A Cherokee man has been sentenced to 15 years for a methamphetamine conspiracy.
According to the US Attorney’s Office in Sioux City, 36-year-old Dustin Coates of Cherokee has been convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. They say he had been convicted on a previous occasion of the distribution of a controlled substance.
The US Attorney’s office says that evidence at the hearing showed that Coates admitted his involvement in a conspiracy that distributed at least 1.4 kilograms of methamphetamine, including 150 grams of pure methamphetamine, from March 2021, through March 8, 2022. They say that on March 8, 2022, law enforcement conducted a traffic stop of the vehicle Coates was driving, and that Coates threw two baggies of methamphetamine from his person while attempting to flee the traffic stop on foot. They tell us Coates admitted that he planned to distribute the 60+ grams of pure methamphetamine to other people.
United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard Strand sentenced Coates to 180 months (15 years) in prison. He must also serve 10 years of supervised release after his prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
