North Dakota Man Gets 5 Years For Meth Distribution Crime

A North Dakota man, who was arrested after a high-speed chase south of Gillette two years ago, was sentenced for a methamphetamine crime to nearly five years imprisonment in federal court on Monday.

Jerry Darnell Dawson Jr., heard the 70-month sentence for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine from U.S. District Court Judge Alan Johnson in Cheyenne.

Johnson also ordered Dawson to be on four years of supervised probation after his release from prison, pay $500 in community restitution and a $100 special assessment. The judge also recommended a 500-hour residential drug treatment program for Dawson.

This case started on Oct. 13, 2020, when a Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper pulled over a 2020 Chrysler 300 traveling 92 mph in a 70 mph zone 23 miles of Gillette on Wyoming Highway 50, according to the Highway Patrol. (Federal court records say the car was a black Cadillac.)

Dawson, from Dickenson, North Dakota, was the driver, and his passenger was Bobby Dickerson from Bakersfield, California. A federal court document stated, "Mr. Dawson advised that he was in a hurry as he was about to run out of gas."

While speaking with Dickerson, the trooper smelled burnt marijuana coming from inside the vehicle and found a marijuana bud on the passenger seat.

Troopers searched the car and found two pounds of methamphetamine in the trunk.

Dickerson ran away. A trooper and Campbell County Sheriff's deputies caught him in a field north of the traffic stop.

He and Dawson were arrested and taken to the Campbell County jail.

They were initially charged with misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance, felony possession of a controlled substance, and felony possession with intent to deliver.

The Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation assisted in the investigation.

The methamphetamine is believed to have originated out of Las Vegas, Nevada, with a final destination of North Dakota.

Dawson and Dickerson were later indicted in federal court with one count each of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

Prosecutors dismissed the case against Dickerson without prejudice in June 2021, according to federal court records.

Dawson pleaded guilty in July 2022.

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