Chicago Man Sentenced for Cocaine and Heroin Distribution

A man who distributed cocaine and heroin near Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, in 2017 and 2018 was sentenced August 29, 2023, to seven years in federal prison.

Malcolm Thornton, age 33, from Chicago, Illinois, received the prison term after a January 23, 2023 guilty plea to one count of possession with the intent to distribute cocaine.

In a plea agreement, Thornton admitted he was involved in selling cocaine and heroin out of a house near Loras College during 2017 and 2018.  Ultimately, Thornton and others were traveling back to Dubuque from Chicago on January 23, 2018, with over 300 grams of cocaine when they were stopped by members of the Dubuque Drug Task Force.

Thornton was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams.  Thornton was sentenced to 84 months’ imprisonment and must also serve a six-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.  Thornton is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Patrick Reinert and was investigated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program of the United States Department of Justice through a cooperative effort of Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Dubuque Drug Task Force comprised of the Dubuque County Sheriff’s Office and the Dubuque Police Department. 

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

The case file number is 22-CR-01021. 

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