Steburg, a twice convicted felon prohibited from possessing guns, sold meth and a stolen handgun to an informant.
A man who conspired to distribute methamphetamine and possessed firearms illegally was sentenced Aug. 23, 2019, to more than 17 years in federal prison.
Tate Owen Steburg, 48, from Fort Dodge, Iowa, received the prison term after a March 6, 2019, guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and illegally possessing a firearm. Steburg had previously been convicted of two felony drug trafficking convictions in the Iowa District Court.
At the plea hearing, Steburg admitted that from about 2017 through February 2018, he was involved in a conspiracy that distributed more than 11 pounds of methamphetamine in the Fort Dodge area. Evidence at the plea hearing also showed that in two separate transactions in January 2018, Steburg sold about four ounces of methamphetamine; and on another occasion sold a firearm to an individual cooperating with law enforcement. It was later determined that the firearm had been stolen in a Calhoun County, Iowa, burglary/arson case.
Steburg was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand. Steburg was sentenced to 208 months’ imprisonment. He must also serve a 10-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system. Steburg 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 was investigated by the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, Fort Dodge Police Department, Webster County Sheriff’s Office, Iowa State Patrol and Iowa Division of Criminalistics Investigation.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 18-3013. Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
