Timothy T. Duax U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa
Omar Barrientos, a 35-year-old resident of Sioux City, Iowa, pleaded guilty on August 19, 2025, in federal court to one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
According to evidence presented during the plea hearing, law enforcement responded on June 20, 2024, to a report of a person sleeping in a vehicle parked at Thompson Electric in Sioux City. Officers found Barrientos alone in the vehicle and observed signs that he was impaired. They noticed pills in the center console and a white crystalline substance on the floorboard near the driver’s seat. A further search revealed a bag containing nearly one pound of methamphetamine under the driver’s seat. Barrientos admitted he intended to distribute some or all of the methamphetamine.
Barrientos has previous convictions for willful injury and criminal gang participation from 2009. In 2016, he was again convicted of willful injury as well as assault while displaying a dangerous weapon and going armed with intent.
Sentencing will be scheduled after completion of a presentence report by United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand. Barrientos remains in custody pending sentencing and faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison, up to life imprisonment, a fine up to $20 million, and at least ten years of supervised release after any incarceration.
