Date: 10-21-2015

Case Style: United States of America v. Marcus DeJohn Wallace

Case Number: 15-CR-00025-LRR

Judge: Linda R. Reade

Court: United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa (Linn County)

Plaintiff's Attorney: Dan Chatham

Defendant's Attorney: Christopher J Nathan - FRP

Description: Cedar Rapids, IA - Cedar Rapids Man to Federal Prison for Distributing Heroin Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury

A man who distributed heroin to a user who nearly died from an overdose was sentenced to fourteen years in federal prison.

Marcus DeJohn Wallace, age 20, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after a June 8, 2015, guilty plea to distribution of heroin resulting in serious bodily injury.

At the guilty plea hearing, Wallace admitted that on February 24, 2015, he distributed $50 worth of heroin to a person in the parking lot of a business on Edgewood Road. He also admitted that the person to whom he had sold the heroin took it to a nearby vehicle, where another person was waiting.. Both individuals used the heroin Wallace had sold while in the automobile. Both immediately overdosed and lost consciousness after using it. The driver’s head slumped forward activating the horn. A passerby heard the horn honking, saw the two unconscious individuals, and called 911. When paramedics arrived, the passenger was able to be revived without medical intervention. The driver was totally unresponsive until paramedics repositioned the driver’s head to open his airway. Wallace admitted that without medical intervention by the paramedics, the driver was at a substantial risk of anoxic brain injury and death as a result of using the heroin Wallace distributed.

Wallace was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade. Wallace was sentenced to 168 months’ imprisonment. A special assessment of $100 was imposed. He must also serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

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

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Task Force consisting of the DEA; the Cedar Rapids Police Department; the Linn County Sheriff's Office; the Marion Police Department; the Iowa City Police Department; and the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement.

Outcome: See above

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

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