CEDAR RAPIDS – A former Northern Iowa meth dealer who went to federal prison in 2017 for 6 years got out of jail and instantly picked up his former lifestyle in Waterloo, and after selling to an undercover cop, will be headed back to the lockup for 19 years.
A Waterloo man (previously reported to be from Sac City) who was responsible for distributing over thirteen pounds of ice methamphetamine was sentenced on July 2, 2025, to more than nineteen years in federal prison.
Matthew James Wessels, age 44, from Waterloo, Iowa, received the prison term after a December 23, 2024, guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance after a prior conviction for a serious drug felony. NIT reported back in 2017 that this offender was sentenced on August 18, 2017, to more than six years in federal prison and at that time was from Sac City, Iowa, He received the prison term for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
In a plea agreement, Wessels admitted that during the summer of 2024, after being released from federal prison for a previous controlled substance conviction, he conspired with several others to import ice methamphetamine and then distribute the methamphetamine in Waterloo and the surrounding area. On three separate occasions, Wessels distributed ice methamphetamine to an undercover police officer. On another occasion, officers found him in possession of over three pounds of ice methamphetamine. In total, Wessels was personally responsible for distributing over thirteen pounds of ice methamphetamine.
Wessels was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams. Wessels was sentenced to 234 months’ imprisonment. He must also serve a ten-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Jared Manternach and investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Tri-County Drug Enforcement Task Force consisting of the Waterloo Police Department, Cedar Falls Police Department, Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Department, Evansdale Police Department, Waverly Police Department, Hudson Police Department, La Porte City Police Department, and the Bremer County Sheriff’s Department; the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Cedar Rapids Police Department, the Jones County Sheriff’s Department; and the United States Postal Inspection Service.