Three Cass County residents have been sentenced in federal court for conspiring to distribute fentanyl, resulting in serious bodily injury or death. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa, 33-year-old Cam Christopher Jahnke received a 193-month prison sentence, 29-year-old Chase Daniel Jahnke received 204 months, and 27-year-old Kelsi Thurman was sentenced to 156 months. Authorities say that the group obtained and distributed over 10,000 fentanyl pills in and around Cass County between August 2019 and June 2022, leading to at least two opioid overdose deaths. Two other co-defendants, 20-year-old Colby Clarken and 25-year-old Collin Clarken, have pleaded guilty to the same charges and await sentencing, scheduled for August. U.S. Attorney Richard D. Westphal highlighted the disruption of a major fentanyl supply source in western Iowa, thanks to the collaborative efforts of multiple law enforcement agencies. Fentanyl, often found in counterfeit pills, is now the leading cause of drug overdose deaths in the U.S. For more information on the dangers of fentanyl and other narcotics, visit the Drug Enforcement Administration’s website at www.dea.gov/onepill.
