MASON CITY — A Mason City woman caught repeatedly selling methamphetamine during a months-long federal investigation will spend more than 11 years behind bars.
Tina Smith, 46, was sentenced Tuesday, August 18, 2026, to 136 months—or 11 years and four months—in federal prison for her role in a Mason City-area methamphetamine conspiracy.
Smith (pictured at top) pleaded guilty April 17 to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.
According to federal prosecutors, Smith and others participated in an ongoing meth-distribution operation from March 6 through at least September 6, 2024.
Law enforcement officers used a confidential source to purchase methamphetamine directly from Smith on seven separate occasions.
Federal officials did not disclose the total quantity of methamphetamine involved in Smith’s transactions or identify the other participants in the conspiracy.
U.S. District Judge Leonard T. Strand sentenced Smith in Sioux City.
After completing her 136-month prison term, Smith must remain under federal supervision for an additional five years.
There is no parole in the federal prison system.
Smith remains in the custody of the United States Marshals Service while awaiting transportation to a federal prison.
Her sentence continues a string of lengthy federal punishments imposed on people convicted of feeding methamphetamine into Mason City and surrounding North Iowa communities.
Another major Mason City drug case concluded in 2022 when a repeat federal offender involved in a methamphetamine and heroin conspiracy received a 30-year prison sentence. That case also involved the armed robbery of local marijuana dealers.
The Cerro Gordo County Sheriff’s Office and Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement investigated the case against Smith.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ron Timmons handled the prosecution.