Webster City Man To Federal Prison For Methamphetamine Manufacturing Conspiracy

Webster City Man To Federal Prison For Methamphetamine Manufacturing Conspiracy

The following press release was published by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys on March 11, 2013. It is reproduced in full below.

A man who conspired to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine was sentenced March 8, 2013, to more than seventeen years in federal prison.

Ryan Kern, 44, from Webster City, Iowa, received the prison term after a November 8, 2012, guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to manufacture and distribute actual (pure) methamphetamine; one count of manufacturing or attempting to manufacture actual (pure) methamphetamine within 1000 feet of a protected location, namely Nakomis City Park, Webster City, Iowa; and one count of possession of pseudoephedrine with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine.

At the guilty plea, Kern admitted that from January 2012 through May 2012, he and others manufactured at least 50 grams of actual (pure) methamphetamine. According to pseudoephedrine purchase logs and prescription records obtained in the investigation, starting in January 2012 through May 2012, Kern and others involved acquired more than 300 grams of pseudoephedrine for the manufacture of methamphetamine which included 100 grams of pseudoephedrine purchased through prescription. On April 24, 2012, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Kern’s residence. Officers seized multiple reaction vessels from the basement of the residence and outside trash indicative of a methamphetamine manufacturing lab. Officers also seized 11 prepackaged baggies of methamphetamine totaling 3.5 grams, ½ gram of methamphetamine was “drying" and 1 bag (½ gram) was found on the ground outside the residence, for a total of 4.5 grams of methamphetamine.

The evidence established that a 4-5 year old child had been present when Kern and others used methamphetamine as well as when methamphetamine manufacturing took place at the residence, exposing the child to a substantial risk of harm, including from toxic chemical fumes that proliferated throughout the house during this process.

Kern was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Judge Mark W. Bennett. Kern was sentenced to 210 months’ imprisonment. A special assessment of $300 was imposed. He must also serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system. Kern 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 Shawn S. Wehde and investigated by the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, Webster City Police Department, Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is 12-3028.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys

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