Two men from Iowa have been sentenced to federal prison for their involvement in a fentanyl distribution conspiracy. Shannon D. Robertson, 44, and Earl Sandeleo Galtney, 44, were found guilty of distributing the drug in the Des Moines metro area over two years.
Court documents reveal that Robertson and Galtney obtained fentanyl from Chicago. In May 2024, law enforcement discovered more than 75 grams of fentanyl at Robertson's residence. Both individuals were held accountable for distributing over 750 grams of the substance.
Robertson received a sentence of 142 months in federal prison on February 20, 2025, with an additional four-year term of supervised release. Galtney was sentenced to 125 months on March 20, 2025, also followed by four years of supervised release. The federal system does not offer parole.
Ashley Lynn Andrews, another defendant involved in the case, is set to be sentenced on July 1, 2025.
United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal from the Southern District of Iowa announced these developments. The investigation was conducted by the Des Moines Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigations' Central Iowa Gang Task Force.
Fentanyl has emerged as a major cause of drug overdose deaths across the United States. Counterfeit pills containing fentanyl often mimic pharmaceutical drugs but can deliver lethal doses. In recent statistics from Stateline.org (https://stateline.org/2023/09/05/death-rates-for-people-under-40-have-skyrocketed-blame-fentanyl/), accidental overdoses ranked as the leading cause of death for those under age forty in thirty-seven states during 2023. Iowa experienced a peak in opioid-related fatalities with a record high of two hundred fifty-eight deaths in twenty twenty-one before seeing an eight percent decrease in twenty twenty-two (https://hhs.iowa.gov/media/11935/download).
