COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA – The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports a man from Mount Vernon, Washington. 22-year-old Brian James Bell, was sentenced Friday, September 30, 2022, to 66 months (5 1/2 years) in prison, following his plea in Council Bluffs U-S District Court, to a charge of Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine.

In June 2021, Bell was involved in a traffic accident on Interstate 29. Law enforcement arrived on the scene and observed Bell carrying a backpack away from the accident site. A During a probable cause search of the vehicle and backpack, law enforcement located 97 grams of methamphetamine and two loaded firearms.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The Pottawattamie Sheriff’s Department and Southwest Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force investigated the case.