News : McVay No. 2 for Meth Distribution in Vinton from 2016-17 taken off the street

Being Number 2 in Meth distribution is not something to be proud of. Local officers believed that David Joe McVay, 41 held that distinction.

Producing meth that was 95% percent pure, he sold the meth to a confidential informant on four separate occasions in 2017. He was also known to produce the drug. 

Sentenced to 83 months, (almost 7 years) McVay will spend time in federal prison.  Convicted in July of distributing meth in March of 2017, law enforcement had begun to receive consistent information about his distributing and manufacturing meth in 2016. In exchange for the drug, he sometimes exchanged it for stolen property.

In June of 2017, McVay was found along with another person producing meth. 

McVay has had nine convictions for distributing drugs, along with other convictions which include theft, domestic violence, interfering with official acts, and drunken driving related offenses.

McVay has failed treatment in the past and has been in possession of large quantities of meth in the past. One of the sales made to the informant was up to an ounce, making $4,000 from sales along with exchanging it for the stolen items and pseudoephedrine. 

Following his release from prison, he will be ordered to serve four years of supervised release.

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Press Release

An Iowa man responsible for selling methamphetamine was sentenced January 8, 2020, to seven years in federal prison.

David Joe McVay, age 40, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison sentence after a July 22, 2019 guilty plea to distribution of methamphetamine.

Information disclosed at sentencing and at his plea hearing showed that in March 2017, McVay sold methamphetamine to a confidential source.  Evidence also showed that McVay not only sold methamphetamine, but also manufactured it.  In total, he was involved with over a kilogram of methamphetamine.  At times, McVay made up to $4,000 a month in drug sales.  He also provided methamphetamine in exchange for Sudafed, a medication commonly used to manufacture methamphetamine.  McVay has a long criminal history, totally 26 adult criminal convictions. He has nine prior controlled substance convictions. 

McVay was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams.  McVay was sentenced to 84 months' imprisonment.  He must also serve a four-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ashley Corkery and investigated by the Vinton Police Department, Benton County Sheriff's Office, Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, Benton County Attorney's Office, the

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Hiawatha Police Department, Cedar Rapids Police Department, Independence Police Department, Iowa Department of Correctional Services, Tama County Sheriff's Office, and Sumner Police Department.