(Sioux City)– A Hartley man has pleaded guilty to federal drug charges.
49-year-old James Miller entered the plea to one count of conspiring to distribute crack cocaine and one count of distributing and aiding and abetting the distribution of crack cocaine.
At a plea hearing Monday, Miller admitted he conspired to distribute more than 20 grams of crack cocaine in the Sioux City and Hartley areas from October 2009 through March 2010. Miller admitted he distributed crack cocaine to an undercover law enforcement officer within 1,000 feet of the Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn school on December 1st, 2009.
According to court documents, Miller often acted as a “middle-person” for drug transactions or drug communications and sometimes received crack cocaine from two co-defendants for his part in the transactions.
Sentencing will be held once a pre-sentence report is complete.
Miller was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshal after the guilty plea and will remain in custody pending sentencing.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and the Spirit Lake Police Department.
