Sioux City, Iowa — A Sioux City Man will spend the next 15 years behind bars after a methamphetamine distribution conviction.
According to the US Attorney’s Office, 43-year-old Jesse Chavez of Sioux City was sentenced this week in federal court in Sioux City, to 180 months’ imprisonment. That’s 15 years behind bars.
Chavez pled guilty in June to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. In 2015, Chavez was convicted of possession with intent to deliver drugs in Iowa District Court for Woodbury County.
At the hearings, evidence showed that between September and December of 2021, Chavez was involved in a conspiracy that distributed at least 500 grams of mixed methamphetamine and 150 grams of pure methamphetamine in the Sioux City area. On December 14, 2021, Sioux City Police officers observed suspicious conduct by Chavez in the Walgreens parking lot and inside the store. Officers confronted Chavez, obtained consent to search his vehicle, and seized three ounces of methamphetamine. Chavez would obtain multiple ounce quantities of methamphetamine from his sources of supply and then sell lesser quantities of the methamphetamine to others.
Sentencing was held before United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand. Chavez was sentenced to 180 months in prison and must serve a 10-year term of supervised release following imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system.
The case was investigated by the Tri-State Drug Task Force based in Sioux City, Iowa, which consists of law enforcement personnel from the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Sioux City Police Department; Homeland Security Investigations; Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office; the South Sioux City, Nebraska Police Department; the Nebraska State Patrol; the Iowa National Guard; the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement; the United States Marshals Service; the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation; and the Woodbury County Attorney’s Office.
