A Cedar Rapids man has been sentenced to a decade in federal prison for his involvement in methamphetamine distribution. James Vincent Thornton, 53, pleaded guilty on October 11, 2024, to possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance.
The investigation revealed that Thornton was distributing methamphetamine. In November 2021, law enforcement searched a residence where he was staying and found about 224.17 grams of ice methamphetamine in his room. In March and April 2022, officers used a confidential informant to purchase methamphetamine from him twice. A subsequent search in May 2022 at another location linked to Thornton uncovered approximately 71.31 grams of the drug.
Thornton received his sentence from United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams in Cedar Rapids. He was sentenced to 120 months in prison and must serve an additional five-year term of supervised release post-incarceration. The federal system does not allow parole.
Currently, Thornton is held by the United States Marshal's custody pending transfer to a federal facility.
Assistant United States Attorney Adam J. Vander Stoep prosecuted the case, which involved multiple agencies including the Cedar Rapids Police Department, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Task Force. The DEA Task Force includes several local law enforcement agencies and is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation aimed at dismantling high-level criminal organizations through coordinated efforts.