Fort Dodge Man Sentenced to 15 Years for Meth Conspiracy

A man who conspired to distribute methamphetamine and distributed methamphetamine was sentenced on January 23, 2024, in federal court in Sioux City.

Phillip Pringle, 53, from Fort Dodge, Iowa, pled guilty on June 6, 2023, to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and distribution and aiding and abetting another in the distribution of methamphetamine.

At the plea and sentencing hearings, evidence showed that between January 2015 and December 2019, Pringle and others distributed more than six kilograms of methamphetamine in the Fort Dodge/Humboldt, Iowa, areas.  In September and October 2019, Pringle was the source of methamphetamine for an individual selling methamphetamine to an undercover officer.  On October 19, 2020, an arrest warrant was issued for Pringle’s failure to appear for a pre-trial release revocation hearing.  Over two years later, on February 14, 2023, Pringle was arrested by the United States Marshals Service as a federal fugitive.

Sentencing was held before United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand.  Pringle was sentenced to 180 months’ imprisonment and must serve a 5-year term of supervised release following imprisonment.  There is no parole in the federal system.  Pringle remains in custody of the United States Marshal until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shawn S. Wehde and was investigated by the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, Fort Dodge Police Department, Webster County Sheriff’s Office, and Tri-State Drug Task Force based in Sioux City, Iowa, that consists of law enforcement personnel from the Drug Enforcement Administration; Sioux City, Iowa, Police Department; Homeland Security Investigations; Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office; South Sioux City, Nebraska, Police Department; Nebraska State Patrol; Iowa National Guard; Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement; United States Marshals Service; South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation; and Woodbury County Attorney’s Office.   

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. 

The case file number is 20-3022.  Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.