La Crosse Man Sentenced to 172 Months for Methamphetamine Trafficking & Illegally Possessing Firearm

MADISON, WIS. – Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Jade Deeny, 26, La Crosse, Wisconsin, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 172 months in prison for possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute and possessing a firearm as a felon.  This prison term will be followed by an eight-year period of supervised release.

On June 6, 2022, a confidential informant (CI) worked with investigators from the La Crosse Police Department (LCPD) and purchased cocaine and prescription pills from Deeny.  During the drug transaction, investigators overheard Deeny and the CI discuss an assault rifle and a 9 mm pistol. 

Shortly after the CI left Deeny’s residence, surveillance officers watched Deeny and a female drive away from the house.  Officers stopped the car and arrested Deeny.

Following Deeny’s arrest, an investigator from the LCPD obtained a search warrant for his house.  During the search, investigators found three firearms, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, high-capacity magazines, and a taser.  Investigators also located pounds of counterfeit prescription pills, a scale, empty vegetable capsules, a vacuum sealer, U.S. Postal Service (USPS) shipping boxes, cash, and a lease to self-storage unit.

Investigators eventually obtained a search warrant for Deeny’s storage unit and found that it contained a motorized pill press with a mixer and ventilation unit, tablet presses, 350 pounds of different colored cutting agents, gallons of acetone and ethyl alcohol, 135 pounds of counterfeit prescription pills in various colors, two firearms, ammunition, a high-capacity magazine, and thousands of additional USPS shipping boxes.

Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation assisted with the review of Deeny’s computer and discovered evidence that showed he shipped hundreds of packages to people in 46 different states, as well as Puerto Rico.

Testing by the Drug Enforcement Administration determined that pills located in Deeny’s residence and storage unit contained methamphetamine, bromazolam, and other substances.

In sentencing Deeny, Judge Conley focused on the danger that Deeny posed to the community.  Judge Conly noted that some of the prescription pills Deeny manufactured contained substances not yet scheduled in the United States.  Judge Conley also highlighted Deeny’s continued possession of firearms, despite his prior felony convictions.

This case has been brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the U.S. Justice Department’s program to reduce violent crime.  The PSN approach involves collaboration by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, prosecutors and communities to prevent and deter gun violence. 

The charges against Deeny were the result of an investigation conducted by the La Crosse Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Drug Enforcement Administration.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Chadwick Elgersma prosecuted this case.