CEDAR RAPIDS – A man who violated the terms of his supervised release from prison after he was convicted of manufacturing meth by operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated was sentenced this week to two years in federal prison.
Thomas Schaller, age 46, from Dubuque, Iowa, received the prison term after a court hearing where he admitted operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated. Schaller was originally sentenced in March 2005, on one count of attempting to manufacture pure methamphetamine and one count of possession of firearms by an unlawful drug user. Schaller began a five-year term of supervised release following his release from prison in August 2013. One of the conditions of supervision was that Schaller not enter bars or drink alcohol.
At the supervised release revocation hearing, Schaller admitted that on June 10, 2017, he drove his car into the rear of a Dubuque County Sheriff’s patrol car. The patrol car was parked on the side of the road, with the roof-top emergency lights on, and a sheriff’s deputy who was just completing a traffic stop with another vehicle was in the patrol car. Schaller tested at a blood alcohol level of .208, well above the threshold level of .08 for driving while intoxicated.
Schaller was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge Linda R. Reade. Schaller was sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment. He must also serve a one-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Schaller is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel C. Tvedt and investigated by Dubuque County Sheriff’s Department and the Dubuque Police Department.
