A man who was a fugitive from justice for almost twenty-one years was sentenced June 22, 2015, to more than ten years in federal prison.

Matthew West, age 50, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after a December 3, 1992, jury verdict finding him guilty of one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD).

Evidence at trial showed that, between October 1990 and October 1991, West obtained around 12,000 hits of LSD from out-of-state sources. West sold the LSD to others who redistributed the LSD in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Following the guilty verdict, West was ordered detained pending sentencing but was released in August 1993 when a request for new trial was granted. When West failed to appear for a detention hearing in April 1994, a warrant was issued for his arrest. West turned himself in on that warrant on December 27, 2014. The order granting a new trial was overturned on appeal in June 1994 while West was a fugitive.

West was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade. West was sentenced to 121 months’ imprisonment and fined $6,000. A special assessment of $50 was imposed. He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

West 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 Daniel C. Tvedt and investigated by the Cedar Rapids Police Department, the Linn County Sheriff’s Office, the Marion Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is 92-CR-0023.