Timothy T. Duax U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa
A man from Dubuque, Iowa, has been sentenced to 37 years in federal prison after being found guilty of distributing heroin and fentanyl that led to two overdose deaths in Marion in 2023. Cody Kinzie Dittmar, age 34, was convicted by a jury on June 25, 2025, for distributing and conspiring to distribute the drugs.
Court records indicate that Dittmar had previously served a 64-month sentence for a 2017 conviction as a felon in possession of a firearm. He was released on supervised release in June 2023. According to evidence presented at trial, Dittmar began selling heroin and fentanyl with his then-girlfriend and later wife, Alysha (Gould) Dittmar. On July 1, 2023, they sold a mixture containing heroin, fentanyl, and xylazine to a customer in Marion. The customer and his wife used the drugs shortly afterward; both died from overdoses.
The Dittmars continued their drug sales in the Cedar Rapids area until July 2024. Alysha Dittmar previously pleaded guilty to distribution of heroin and fentanyl resulting in the two deaths.
United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams sentenced Cody Dittmar to 420 months’ imprisonment with an additional three-year term of supervised release following his prison sentence. Because he committed these crimes while already on supervised release from his previous case, he also received an extra two years’ consecutive imprisonment due to revocation of his supervised release. There is no parole available under the federal system.
Dittmar remains in United States Marshal’s custody awaiting transfer to federal prison.
The investigation involved multiple agencies including the Marion Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration Task Force—a group composed of members from the DEA; Linn County Sheriff's Office; Cedar Rapids Police Department; Marion Police Department; and Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement. Assistant United States Attorneys Nicole Nagin and Dan Chatham prosecuted the case.
