Newton man sentenced to 25 years after pleading guilty for intent to deliver meth

Instead of going through a trial that could have resulted in more than 40 years of prison time if the jury found him guilty of all the charges, a Newton man last week decided to plea guilty to intent to deliver methamphetamine over five grams, and he was subsequently sentenced to 25 years.

Ricky Wells, 41, submitted his guilty plea before the Sept. 17 trial date. Intent to manufacture/deliver meth over five grams is considered a Class B felony in Iowa.

However, Wells’ subsequent charges of failure to affix a drug stamp (Class D felony), maintaining a drug house or vehicle (aggravated misdemeanor) and a third offense for possession of a controlled substance (Class D felony) were dropped. All four charges stem from a September 2024 incident.

On Sept. 15, 2024, law enforcement received reports from a concerned citizen about suspicious behavior that appeared to be drug deals near an apartment complex in Newton. Police identified the individuals, but Wells left the scene before he could be apprehended. Wells had an arrest warrant at the time.

Two hours after police made contact with the group, officers found Wells’ vehicle in the parking lot of MercyOne Newton Medical Center. Police interacted with Wells and arrested him on the warrant. In the process, officers observed in the front passenger seat a multi-colored pipe commonly used to smoke marijuana.

From there officers obtained a search warrant and found approximately 71 grams of meth in the vehicle, along with marijuana and other drug paraphernalia.

Newton Police Department was the primary investigator in this case, along with the Mid-Iowa Narcotics Enforcement (MINE) Task Force. The investigation uncovered text messages and social media messages related to drug trafficking, showing Wells was a dealer of methamphetamine.

Assistant Jasper County Attorney Nicholas Pietrack explained in addition to the 25 years, Wells was given a five-and-a-half-year mandatory minimum. If Wells had decided to pursue a trial and was found guilty of all charges, he could have received a maximum sentence of 42 years with a mandatory minimum of 10 years.

Pietrack credited the hard work of law enforcement and their investigation. While methamphetamine is seeing less headlines in today’s world in large part because of the sheer number of fentanyl cases and fentanyl overdoses, Pietrack said meth still continues to break families and communities.

“Any time law enforcement can remove large quantities of methamphetamine from our community, it makes our community safer,” Pietrack said. “…Law enforcement just did a great job on this case.”