A 30-year-old Dubuque man was handed a lengthy prison term after being convicted of distributing a lethal combination of opioids that led to the overdose death of a woman.
Julius Gene Irvin, from Dubuque, Iowa, received the prison term after pleading guilty to one count of distribution of controlled substances near a protected location resulting in death. At the plea hearing, Irvin admitted to distributing a mixture of heroin, fentanyl, and valeryl fentanyl to another person on May 19, 2019.
Court records indicate that Irvin was a long-time heroin and opioid user, facilitator, and distributor in Dubuque. He admitted to obtaining at least 60 grams of heroin from Travis Gordon Jones in two months in 2019, much of which he supplied to two individuals.
On each day from May 17 to 19, 2019, Irvin supplied those individuals with heroin on three consecutive days, and each day one of those two individuals suffered an overdose. It was later determined that the heroin Irvin was supplying them also contained fentanyl and valeryl fentanyl, an illicitly produced substance that has similar effects to fentanyl.
On May 19, 2019, Irvin obtained some heroin laced with fentanyl and valeryl fentanyl for one of his customers. The customer took some of the substance to a local women’s shelter, where she had been staying. She used the substance, overdosed, and was found dead by shelter staff the next morning.
Irvin was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. He was sentenced to 183 months’ imprisonment. He was ordered to make $8,325.67 in restitution to the victim. He must also serve a 6-year term of supervised release after the prison term.
The case was investigated by the Dubuque Drug Task Force and the Drug Enforcement Administration and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dan Chatham.
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Key Facts
- State: Iowa
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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