Dubuque Woman Pleads Guilty To Federal Drug Charges

A Dubuque woman has pleaded guilty to federal drug crimes in relation to a man who overdosed. 29 year old Emily Nelson entered the plea in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids to one count of distribution of fentanyl. Her sentencing hearing has not been set yet. She faces up to 20 years in prison, a $1 million fine and a lifetime of supervised release after her prison term, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa. According to the federal indictment, Nelson distributed a substance “that was supposedly heroin” to a man on July 29, 2020. That person used the substance, which turned out to be fentanyl, and overdosed, nearly dying.  First responders were able to revive another individual using Narcan.