The U-S Attorney’s office for the Southern District of Iowa reports 40-year old David L. Lopez, Jr., of Omaha, was sentenced to 2-years in jail on Thursday, for conspiring to distribute marijuana in Omaha and Council Bluffs. The 48-month sentence was imposed by United States District Court Chief Judge James E. Gritzner , who also ordered Lopez to serve a three year term of supervised release following incarceration.

On February 8, 2013, Lopez, Jr. pled guilty to a charge of conspiring to distribute marijuana in Omaha, and Council Bluffs. The charge was the result of an investigation conducted by several law enforcement agencies into the importation and distribution of marijuana by a known drug trafficking group.

On December 5, 2011, Lopez was being observed by law enforcement as he traveled between Omaha, Nebraska and Council Bluffs, Iowa. Lopez was found to be transporting over 60 pounds of marijuana to a known drug house in Council Bluffs,  for the drug trafficking group.

The investigation was conducted by the Council Bluffs, Iowa, Police Department, the Southwest Iowa Narcotics Task Force, Omaha Police Department, Iowa Division of Narcotic Enforcement, the Pottawattamie County Attorney’s Office, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

A southwest Iowa man was sentenced Thursday to spend a little more than three-years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm.  44-year old Jeffrey Bruce Carrigan, of Hastings, was sentenced in United States District Court in Council Bluffs, by Chief United States District Court Judge James E. Gritzner.  The Judge sentenced Carrigan to 37 months in prison, to be followed by 2 years of supervised release. The Court also ordered Montgomery to forfeit three rifles and ammunition found in his possession, and to pay a $100.00 special assessment for the Crime Victim Fund. Carrigan remains in the custody of the United States Marshal pending designation of the Federal Bureau of Prisons facility at he will serve his sentence.

Carrigan was sentenced to prison following his plea of guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. The firearm charge against Carrigan arose from a September 4, 2012, visit to Carrigan’s residence by a State of Iowa probation officer. Carrigan was at the time on probation for his conviction in the District Court of the State of Iowa for Montgomery County for possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver, in which he had been given a suspended sentence and placed on two years probation. The State of Iowa probation officer and Mills County deputy sheriffs found three rifles and several boxes of ammunition in Carrigan’s residence.

The investigation was conducted by the Mills County Sheriff’s Department, the State of
Iowa Fourth Judicial District Parole and Probation Office, and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

A Council Bluffs man was sentenced Thursday in U-S District Court, to 2 1/2 years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm, and revocation of supervised release. U-S Attorney Nicholas Klinefeldt says 33-year old Jacob Lloyd Montgomery must also serve two-years of supervised release following his imprisonment, according to the sentence imposed by Chief United States District Court Judge James E. Gritzner, who  sentenced Montgomery to 30 months in prison, to be followed by 2 years of supervised release. The Court also ordered Montgomery to forfeit the firearm and ammunition found in his possession, and to pay a $100.00 special assessment for the Crime Victim Fund. Montgomery remains in the custody of the United States Marshal pending designation of the Federal Bureau of Prisons facility at he will serve his sentence.

Montgomery was sentenced to the 30 months imprisonment as a joint resolution of two pending federal judicial proceedings, and upon his plea of guilty to the charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Montgomery was also sentenced upon his admission that he had violated the terms of the supervised release he was serving at the time. The violations included misrepresentations to the United States Probation Office and the felon in possession of a firearm charge. The federal criminal justice system no longer has parole.

However, after serving the his full sentence, less any good time awarded to the him, Montgomery is, upon being discharged from prison, placed under the supervision of the United States Probation Office for an amount of time determined by the sentencing court and under such conditions as the court orders. If he violates the conditions of his supervision, Montgomery can be sentenced to a further term of imprisonment for the violation.

The firearm charge against Montgomery arose from a stop by a Council Bluffs police officer of the vehicle Montgomery was driving on January 29, 2012. Montgomery fled on foot from the scene, but was caught and arrested by the officer. Council Bluffs police officers subsequently found a loaded .45 caliber pistol in the vehicle from which defendant fled. Among various crimes for which Montgomery has been convicted, he was convicted in 2001, in the District Court of the State of Iowa for Pottawattamie County, of felony forgery and felony theft, and was convicted in 2007, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa of a prior charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The investigation was conducted by the Council Bluffs, Iowa, Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa reports a Mills County man,  40-year old Adam Michael Blackman, was sentenced Thursday to spend 135 months in jail. United States District Court Chief Judge James E. Gritzner handed down the 11-year sentence after Blackman was found guilty on a charge of Manufacturing Methamphetamine. United States Attorney Nicholas A. Klinefeldt says Judge Gritzner also ordered Blackman to serve an eight year term of supervised release following incarceration.

On January 9th, 2013, Blackman pled guilty to a charge of manufacturing at least five grams of methamphetamine in Hamburg. The charge was the result of an investigation conducted by several law enforcement agencies into the manufacturing and distribution of methamphetamine by Blackman. On May 1st, 2012, the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office located an active methamphetamine manufacturing operation in an apartment building in Hamburg. Blackman, along with several other people were found at the location of the manufacturing operation. Blackman admitted he was manufacturing methamphetamine when the Fremont County Sheriff’s investigators arrived.

The investigation was conducted by the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office, the Mills County, Iowa, Sheriff=s Office, Iowa State Patrol, and the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

The Harlan Community School District is celebrating today after another state victory, this time in Jazz Band. The State Competition was held Thursday in Des Moines. After performing around 2pm, the judges announced the Cyclones made it to the finals versus Pella. The finals were held later in the evening with the Harlan Community Cyclones named number 1 in Class 3A Jazz Band.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)