Eastern Iowa methamphetamine dealer sentenced to prison for second time

REINBECK, Iowa (KCRG) – A methamphetamine dealer from Reinbeck has been sentenced to federal prison for the second time.

Information shared at a sentencing hearing and other hearings in this case revealed 39-year-old Austin Hansen worked with a source that he met while in federal prison to gain access to mass amounts of methamphetamine.

The source, located in California, shipped methamphetamine and marijuana to post offices located in Reinbeck, Dike, and Waterloo. Once Hansen received the shipments, he worked with other people to distribute the drugs across the Northern District of Iowa.

Hansen sent shipments of thousands of dollars to the California source in exchange for the drugs.

From December 2023 to May 2024, 37 shipments of drugs were sent to Iowa and $260,000 worth of payments were sent to the source in California.

Police intercepted one of the drug shipments during their investigation, finding over 5,000 grams of methamphetamine.

In May 2024, officers executed search warrants, completing one at Hansen’s home. Police found over 600 grams of methamphetamine, a gun, over $12,000, and receipts from the money shipments at the residence.

Hansen was sentenced to prison in 2011 on a previous conviction of a federal drug trafficking crime.

In December 2024, Hansen pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance after having previously been convicted of a serious drug felony. Hansen faces 20 years in federal prison.

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