A North Platte man has been sentenced to more than 11 years in federal prison for his role in a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy. United States Attorney Lesley A. Woods announced that Michael W. Stroble, 32, received a sentence of 138 months on September 11, 2025, from United States District Judge Susan M. Bazis. Stroble was convicted of one count of conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of actual methamphetamine. After serving his prison term, he will be subject to five years of supervised release.
According to court records, between July 2022 and February 2023, Stroble conspired with Joey Romero, Jamie Hopkins, Luke Schwartz, and others to sell methamphetamine in the North Platte area. The group distributed several pounds of the drug and was the target of multiple controlled purchases by law enforcement as well as search warrants and arrests.
By January 2023, Stroble and co-defendant Jamie Hopkins were living together and selling methamphetamine jointly. On January 17, a controlled buy involving Schwartz and Stroble resulted in the sale of 48 grams of methamphetamine less than half a mile from Hopkins’s home. Another controlled buy on January 30 involved Hopkins and Stroble selling an additional 36 grams at Hopkins’s residence.
On February 7, authorities executed a search warrant at Hopkins’s North Platte home. Officers found multiple baggies containing methamphetamine located throughout the house—including on furniture and inside personal belongings—as well as drug paraphernalia such as bongs and scales. They also recovered ammunition: specifically, 224 rounds of 9mm ammunition and a box containing another 23 rounds of Winchester .380 ammunition.
Stroble’s co-defendants have already been sentenced for their roles in the case: Schwartz received a sentence of ten years on September 5, 2024; Hopkins was sentenced to ten years on October 17; Romero received the same sentence on December 12.
The investigation was conducted by the CODE Task Force—a coalition comprising agencies across west-central and southwest Nebraska including local police departments (North Platte Police Department, Lexington Police Department), sheriff's offices (Dawson County Sheriff’s Office), state agencies (Nebraska State Patrol), as well as federal partners like the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations.
"There is no parole in the federal system," according to U.S. Attorney Lesley A. Woods.
