(Davenport, IA) -- An Iowa City man's been sentenced to seven years in prison, for selling heroin. Investigators say 50-year-old Robert Rankins Junior and a second man, Eric Rhine, got the heroin in Chicago and supplied more than 1,000 grams of it to people in Iowa City, Coralville, and North Liberty.
On Tuesday, December 22, 2020, United States District Court Chief Judge John A. Jarvey sentenced Robert Rankins Jr., age 50, of Iowa City, to 84 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute 1,000 grams and more of a mixture and substance containing heroin.
The judge also ordered Rankins Jr. to serve five years of supervised release as well as pay $100 to the Crime Victims’ Fund.
This investigation began in 2018 involving narcotics trafficking between Johnson County, Iowa and Chicago, Illinois. Law enforcement determined Rankins Jr. and his co-conspirator were obtaining heroin and selling heroin in Johnson County.
The case was investigated by the Johnson County Drug Task Force, and prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa
(Photo with permission from Getty Images)