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(Cedar Rapids, IA) -- A Cedar Rapids man convicted of leading a large-scale methamphetamine trafficking organization has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison.
Sixty-two-year-old George Patrick Ashby received the prison term after a July 16, 2021 guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.
Evidence at sentencing showed that, between the summer of 2018, and March of 2020, Ashby organized and led a large-scale drug trafficking organization that brought significant amounts of ice methamphetamine from Burlington, Iowa, to the Cedar Rapids area for redistribution.
Investigators say Ashby possessed firearms in connection with this drug distribution, and he provided firearms to other members of the organization. Ashby was responsible for distributing at least 4.5 kilograms of ice methamphetamine.
Ashby was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Ashby was sentenced to 360 months’ imprisonment. He must also serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Ashby 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 Attorneys Emily Nydle and Dillan Edwards and was investigated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program of the United States Department of Justice through a cooperative effort of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Task Force consisting of the DEA; the Linn County Sheriff’s Office; the Cedar Rapids Police Department; the Marion Police Department; the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement; and the Burlington Police Department.