Career Offender Who Distributed Purported Heroin Containing Fentanyl Resulting in an Overdose Sentenced to Over 13 Years in Federal Prison

A man who sold purported heroin that contained fentanyl in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was sentenced today to 163 months in federal prison.

Rodney Eugene Lewis, age 49, from Chicago Heights, Illinois, received the prison term after a February 6, 2024 guilty plea to one count of distribution of a controlled substance.        

Between February 2020 and June 2020, Lewis distributed purported heroin in Cedar Rapids.  When Lewis was unavailable provide drugs to his customers, he provided his drug-trafficking cellphone to his sister and co-defendant, Marsha Celes Dismukes, so that Dismukes could supply his customers with controlled substances.  During this time, Lewis provided an individual with purported heroin that also contained fentanyl.  After using the controlled substance provided by Lewis, the individual overdosed.  Lewis was previously convicted of two different drug trafficking offenses in Illinois.

Lewis was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams.  Lewis was sentenced to 163 months’ imprisonment.  He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.  Lewis 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 Nicole L. Nagin, and it was investigated by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration and the Cedar Rapids Police Department, at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.  The case file number is 21-CR- 00068.

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