A man who admitted to obtaining and distributing five to ten pounds of methamphetamine since December 2024, was sentenced today to 15 years in federal prison.

Steven Starks, age 63, from Sioux City, received the prison term after a May 26, 2026, guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.

Evidence in this case revealed Starks' involvement in three drug transactions in 2025 after he had already been arrested on drug charges in December of 2024. Starks admitted to trafficking five to ten pounds of methamphetamine and to acquiring a firearm during his drug trafficking activities and obliterating the serial number on the firearm.

Starks' criminal history includes convictions for theft, robbery, obstruction of law, and assault.

Starks was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand to 180 months' imprisonment. He must also serve a 5-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

Starks is being held in the United States Marshal's custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was investigated by Sioux City, Iowa Police Department and the United States Department of Justice's Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF). This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Forde Fairchild.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.plLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link..

The case file number is 25-4064.

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