CEDAR RAPIDS – A Waterloo man who sold to an undercover agent was sentenced to 306 months in federal prison for his involvement in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
James Douglas Morrison (pictured at top), age 40, from Waterloo, Iowa, received the prison term after a February 22, 2024 guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon.
In 2022, an undercover agent purchased methamphetamine from Morrison in Waterloo, Iowa. Morrison also directed others, including co-defendant Heather Sue Hartzell, to sell “ice” methamphetamine on his behalf. Approximately one month later, law enforcement officers stopped Morrison while he was driving back from Des Moines with Hartzell. Hartzell and Morrison had almost 2,000 grams of “ice” methamphetamine inside the car that Morrison had obtained from his supplier in Des Moines, Iowa. Morrison also had a gun.
Morrison was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams. Morrison was sentenced to 306 months’ imprisonment. He must also serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system. Morrison 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 Nicole L. Nagin, and it was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Tri‑County Drug Enforcement Task Force, the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, the Black Hawk County Sherriff’s Office, and the Waterloo Police Department.