LOCAL METHAMPHETAMINE DEALER SENTENCED TO 324 MONTHS’ IMPRISONMENT July 14, 2020

MARQUETTE, MICHIGAN — Jonathan Collins, 41 years old, was sentenced on July 10, 2020, to serve 324 months’ imprisonment by U.S. District Judge Paul L. Maloney. Collins pled guilty in December 2019 to possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine. Upon his release, Collins will be subject to 5 years of supervision. Marquette City Police pulled over Collins’s vehicle in November 2018. During that encounter, investigators found approximately 50 grams of methamphetamine in the car and a double-edged dagger concealed in the driver-side support handle. The Upper Peninsula Substance Enforcement Team (UPSET) then took over the investigation and learned that Collins had been making frequent trips to the Grand Rapids area and had brought ounces of crystal methamphetamine back to the Upper Peninsula for redistribution. After being charged by the Marquette County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and being released on bond, Collins conspired to obtain additional methamphetamine and made threats against a co-conspirator. The U.S. Attorney’s office charged Collins in August 2019. District Judge Maloney imposed an enhanced sentence in this case based on several factors, including Collins’s obstructing justice by posting a statement online calling a co-conspirator a “snitch” and attaching a copy of the co-conspirator’s statement to police. Judge Maloney concluded a substantial term of incarceration was necessary because of Collins’s actions toward the co-conspirator and the damage crystal methamphetamine is doing to Michigan and the Upper Peninsula more specifically. “As long as methamphetamine distribution continues to be a problem in the Upper Peninsula, my office will continue to work with our federal and local law enforcement partners to prosecute those who would otherwise go undeterred and keep bringing this terrible drug into our northernmost communities,” said U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, Marquette County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, UPSET, and Marquette City Police Department worked together to ensure Collins was brought to justice