In a case with northwest Iowa connections, an Illinois man has pleaded guilty in federal court to meth and firearms charges.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office says 32-year-old Shawn Gaston of Peru, Illinois, pleaded guilty last week to Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine…Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine, Possession of a Firearm by a Prohibited Person, and Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime.
At a plea hearing, Gaston admitted that from February 2020 through October 2021, he and others distributed methamphetamine in northern Iowa and elsewhere. In October 2021, law enforcement in Clay County attempted to pull over a vehicle Gaston was driving. Gaston refused to stop and led officers on a high speed pursuit that ended when the vehicle crashed into a creek in Dickinson county. According to court documents, Gaston got out of the vehicle after the crash and disposed of a firearm and meth about 20 yards away from the vehicle before being apprehended. Gaston had previously been convicted on at least four felony charges, prohibiting him from possessing any firearm.
Sentencing will be set upon completion of a pre-sentence report.
