Starks, Duhme Plead Guilty to Meth Charge

Dubuque, Iowa, is reeling after a devastating apartment fire revealed a sinister methamphetamine operation. John Starks Sr., 46, and Casey Duhme, 24, both of Dubuque, have pled guilty to a federal methamphetamine charge connected to the blaze that occurred on February 20, 2014.

The two men were each convicted of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine near a school, a charge that carries severe penalties. Duhme and Starks pled guilty in federal court in Cedar Rapids on June 25, 2014, and June 26, 2014, respectively.

According to their plea agreements, Starks and Duhme admitted to agreeing with others to manufacture methamphetamine from February 16 through February 20, 2014. Both men admitted to obtaining pseudoephedrine during this time period, while Starks also admitted to purchasing lye. The pseudoephedrine and lye were intended to be used in the manufacture of methamphetamine.

The attempted cook took place in Starks’s apartment, located on White Street, which was part of a multi-family apartment building situated across the street from an elementary school. The attempted cook caused a fire to erupt in the upstairs bathroom of Starks’s apartment during the early morning hours of February 20, 2014. Starks sustained significant burns on his hands, but instead of calling for help, he, Duhme, and a third person fled the apartment.

It wasn’t until a police officer on routine patrol noticed smoke coming from the apartment building that the fire was discovered. The officer evacuated the residents, but not before the roof of the apartment building collapsed. The building is now uninhabitable, a stark reminder of the dangers of methamphetamine production.

Sentencing for Starks and Duhme will be set after presentence reports are prepared. They each face a mandatory minimum sentence of 1 year imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of 40 years’ imprisonment, a $2,000,000 fine, $100 in special assessments, and at least 6 years and up to a life term of supervised release following any imprisonment. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Justin Lightfoot and was investigated by the Dubuque Drug Task Force, the Dubuque Police Department, and the Dubuque Fire Department.

Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl, with the case file number being 14-cr-1009. As the people of Dubuque struggle to come to terms with the aftermath of the fire, they can take some solace in the fact that justice is being served. The guilty pleas of Starks and Duhme serve as a reminder that law enforcement is committed to keeping the community safe from the scourge of methamphetamine.