Jury Finds Sioux City Man Guilty of Meth Conspiracy

A Sioux City man who conspired to distribute methamphetamine was found guilty by a jury on July 9, 2021, after a four-day jury trial in federal court in Sioux City, Iowa.

Melroy Johnson, Sr., 66, from Sioux City, Iowa, was convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. The verdict was returned last Friday morning following about 2 ½ hours of jury deliberations.

Evidence at the trial showed, that over the course of months in 2017-2018, Johnson, Sr. had two co-conspirators travel to California to obtain pounds of methamphetamine from a source and return with it to Sioux City, Iowa for further distribution. Evidence at trial also showed that Johnson, Sr., over the course of about one year, from 2017 through 2018 had multiple pounds of meth repeatedly mailed from a source of supply in California to co-conspirators in Sioux City for further distribution. The packages contained from 2-5 pounds of methamphetamine as well as cocaine and marijuana.

Sentencing before United States Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Johnson, Sr. was taken into custody by the United States Marshal after the verdict was returned and will remain in custody pending sentencing. Johnson, Sr. faces a sentencing enhancement based on his prior federal felony drug trafficking conviction in 2002. On his conspiracy conviction, Johnson, Sr. faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years' imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a $20,000,000 fine, and at least 10 years of supervised release following any imprisonment. On the possession conviction, Johnson, Sr. faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years' imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of 40 years' imprisonment, a $8,000,000 fine, and at least 8 years of supervised release.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shawn S. Wehde and investigated by the United States Postal Service, and the Tri-State Drug Task Force based in Sioux City, Iowa, that consists of law enforcement personnel from the Drug Enforcement Administration; Sioux City, Iowa, Police Department; Homeland Security Investigations; Woodbury County Sheriff's Office; South Sioux City, Nebraska, Police Department; Nebraska State Patrol; Iowa National Guard; Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement; United States Marshals Service; South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation; and Woodbury County Attorney's Office.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

The case file number is 19-4065.

Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.