A man who worked with others to sell large quantities of cocaine in Dubuque, Iowa, and was found with a firearm was sentenced today to more than 18 years in federal prison.
Silvester Jameral Durrah, age 40, from Dubuque, Iowa, received the prison term after a February 12, 2024, guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine near numerous parks and educational institutions, after being convicted of a serious violent felony, and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
At the guilty plea, Durrah admitted he had sold at least 5 kilograms of cocaine in Dubuque between 2017 and April 2021, when law enforcement officers searched his house. Durrah admitted his distributions occurred within 1000 feet of numerous parks and educational institutions in Dubuque, such as, Allison-Henderson Park, Gay Park, Jackson Park, Jefferson Park, Loras College, Madison Park, Marshall Elementary School, and the University of Dubuque. Durrah also admitted he had previously been convicted of robbery in Dubuque in 2003. Durrah also admitted he unlawfully possessed a firearm because had two prior felony convictions when he possessed a firearm on April 16, 2021, when the police searched his residence.
Durrah was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams. Durrah was sentenced to 222 months’ imprisonment, and he must also serve a 8-year term of supervised release after the prison term. Additionally, Durrah was ordered to forfeit the firearms and over $3,000 in drug proceeds seized from him. There is no parole in the federal system.
Durrah 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 Attorneys Patrick J. Reinert and Nicole Nagin 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 the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Iowa Medical Examiner’s Office and the Dubuque Drug Task Force, comprised of Dubuque Police Department, Dubuque Sheriff’s Office.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 23-CR-01013.
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