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Press Release

Palo Alto Man Back to Federal Prison

Possessed Methamphetamine Near Emmetsburg High School

David Specketer, 57, from Emmetsburg, Iowa, was sentenced on March 21, 2025, to 60 months’ imprisonment.  Specketer pled guilty in federal court in Sioux City on November 14, 2024, to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of the Emmetsburg High School, a protected location.  Specketer was previously federally convicted of conspiracy to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine in 2013. 

Evidence at the plea and sentencing hearings showed that on April 15, 2024, law enforcement attempted to arrest Specketer at his residence in Emmetsburg on an outstanding arrest warrant.  That warrant involved a pending 2022 case in Woodbury County for possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine.  Specketer attempted to flee back into his residence after initial contact with law enforcement at his door.  Law enforcement apprehended Specketer in his residence with approximately one ounce of methamphetamine.  Specketer admitted he intended to distribute all or some of the methamphetamine to another.  Specketer’s residence is within 1,000 feet of the Emmetsburg High School, a protected location.  

Sentencing was held before United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand.  Specketer was sentenced to 60 months’ imprisonment, must serve an eight-year term of supervised release following imprisonment, and was ordered to pay $10,000 in fines and court-appointed attorney fees.  There is no parole in the federal system.  Specketer remains in custody of the United States Marshals Service until he can be transported to a federal prison.  

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Patrick T. Greenwood and was investigated by Emmetsburg Police Department, Palo Alto County Sheriff’s Office, Iowa DCI Laboratory, and the Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office.  

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.plLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the “external link” icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link..

The case file number is 24-3024.  Follow us on X @USAO_NDIA.

Updated March 24, 2025

Topic
Drug Trafficking