Grand Island man sentenced for drug trafficking crime
A Grand Island man was sentenced to more than five years in prison for drug trafficking.
By News Channel NebraskaGRAND ISLAND, Neb. -- A Grand Island man was sentenced to more than five years in prison for drug trafficking.
Acting United States Attorney Steven Russell announced that 45-year-old Phillip D. Goetz of Grand Island, was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Omaha for possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
The Chief U.S. District Judge sentenced Goetz to 70 months in prison. After his release from prison, Goetz will begin a three-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.
Court documents said that on May 12, 2021, Omaha Police received a tip from a confidential source that Goetz was going to meet co-defendant Markisha Hill to buy meth near 72nd and Grover Streets in Omaha.
Detectives organized surveillance and watched Goetz approach and enter a vehicle driven by Hill.
The vehicle went to various locations, but at a Taco Bell, Goetz got out of Hill’s vehicle and entered a Jeep Grand Cherokee which left the area for a little bit and then returned.
After the Jeep came back, Goetz got out of it and got back in to Hill’s vehicle.
OPD Officers followed Hill’s vehicle, saw a traffic infraction, and stopped the vehicle on Interstate 80 near the 60th St. exit in Omaha.
Law enforcement saw Goetz try to hide something in his jacket. After consent to search the SUV by Hill was denied, officers deployed a trained drug sniffing dog.
The dog alerted to something in the SUV. Officers then searched and found one pound of meth in the SUV’s center console.
Co-defendant Markisha Hill pleaded guilty to possessing with intent to distribute meth and will be sentenced on Dec. 9, 2022.
This case was investigated by the Omaha Police Department.