Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine While Possessing a Loaded Firearm

A man who conspired to distribute methamphetamine while possessing a firearm in furtherance of that conspiracy was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison.

Thomas Wolterman, age 50, from Hutchinson, Minnesota, but formerly of Lake City, Iowa, received the prison term after a June 17, 2026, guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

At the plea hearing, Wolterman admitted that between January 2025 through March 2025, he conspired with others to distribute over a pound of methamphetamine in the Lake City, Iowa, area. As part of that conspiracy, Wolterman possessed and then distributed methamphetamine in Lake City on multiple occasions to an individual cooperating with law enforcement. Following a March 13, 2025, controlled purchase of methamphetamine, law enforcement executed a search warrant on Wolterman's residence in Lake City. Inside, law enforcement located approximately 120 grams of pure methamphetamine in several baggies, a digital scale, packaging materials, and a loaded Mossberg 183T .410 shotgun. Wolterman admitted receiving the firearm as a "drug trade."

Wolterman was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand. Wolterman was sentenced to 120 months' imprisonment for one count and 60 months' imprisonment for the second count, to be run consecutively for a total of 180 months' imprisonment. He must also serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term for each count to be run concurrently. There is no parole in the federal system.

Wolterman 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 Attorney Patrick T. Greenwood and investigated by the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, the Carroll County Sheriff's Office, the Calhoun County Sheriff's Office, the Fort Dodge Police Department, the Lake City Police Department, the Webster County Sheriff's Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the Iowa DCI Laboratory.

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-cr-3028.

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