(Sioux City)– He didn’t go to jail in connection with the death of two-year-old Shelby Duis back in 2000, but Jesse Wendelsdorf will be serving time behind bars on a drug conviction.
A jury in U-S District Court in Sioux City Thursday found the 30-year-old guilty on a charge of conspiracy to manufacture and distribute five grams or more of pure methamphetamine between January 2001 and November 25th, 2003. Wendelsdorf was acquitted of a second count, conspiracy to maintain a house for drug crimes and distribution of 50 grams or more of a methamphetamine mixture between January 1997 and January 2000.
Sentencing will be scheduled at a later date. Wendelsdorf was placed in the custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing.
Wendelsdorf faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years imprisonment and a maximum sentence of 40 years imprisonment; a two million dollar fine and atleast four years up to life of supervised release following any imprisonment.
Wendelsdorf was acquitted in state court in 2000 on charges of first degree murder and child endangerment in the death of two-year-old Shelby Duis who was found dead in her home at 1501 Jackson Avenue in Spirit Lake. An autopsy revealed the child died of injuries sustained while in the care of her mother, Heidi Watkins and her live-in-boyfriend at the time, Jesse Wendelsdorf. Watkins was convicted of child endangerment and is currently serving up to 50 years in prison.
