(Sioux City)– An Estherville man has pleaded guilty to federal meth and firearms charges.
35-year-old Dustin Julich entered the plea today (Fri.) in U.S. District Court to charges of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and illegal possession of a firearm. Julich had previously been convicted of theft and burglary and was prohibited from possessing firearms in Iowa.
At a plea hearing, Julich admitted that from about December 2015 through February 2019 he and others distributed over one kilogram of methamphetamine in the Estherville area. Authorities found about a half pound of meth and two guns while executing a search warrant on a truck and trailer that belonged to Julich.
A sentencing date will be set once a pre-sentence report is completed. Julich in the meantime remains in the custody of a U.S. Marshal.
He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a $10 million fine and atleast five years of supervised release following any imprisonment on the conspiracy charge. On the firearm conviction, Julich faces a possible maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine and not more than three years of supervised release.
The case was investigated by the Estherville Police Department, the Emmet County Sheriff’s Office, the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement and the Iowa Division of Criminalistics Laboratory.
