Sioux City – A Northwest Iowa man who conspired to distribute methamphetamine was sentenced March 5, 2019, to 12 years in federal prison.
Raymond Andrew Kerns, 37, from Cherokee, Iowa, received the prison term after a September 10, 2018, guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Kerns was previously convicted of possession of a controlled substance, third or subsequent offense in the Iowa District Court for Pottawattamie County in August 2017.
Evidence at the guilty plea and sentencing showed that from January 2017 through February 2018, Kerns was involved in a conspiracy that distributed nearly three pounds of methamphetamine in and around the Cherokee, Iowa area. On February 27, 2018, Kerns was apprehended by law enforcement in Storm Lake, Iowa while attempting to meet with another meth dealer. Law enforcement seized $1,500 and 8 grams of methamphetamine from Kerns, which Kerns admitted he planned to distribute to other persons.
Kerns was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand. Kerns was sentenced to 144 months’ imprisonment. He must also serve a four-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system. Kerns 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 Shawn S. Wehde and investigated by the Iowa Department of Narcotics Enforcement, Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, Storm Lake Police Department, and the Iowa Division of Criminalistics Laboratory.
