Fatal fentanyl overdose brings 8 years in prison for Cedar Rapids man

CEDAR RAPIDS — A Cedar Rapids man, who distributed fentanyl, causing one person to fatally overdose in 2022, has been sentenced in federal court to over eight years in prison.

Colby Joseph Manley, 26, pleaded guilty in January to four counts of distribution and aiding and abetting the distribution of a controlled substance and two counts of distribution of a controlled substance.

According to evidence at the plea hearing and sentencing last week, Manley distributed fentanyl to another person who overdosed and died in April 2022.

Following the overdose, on six separate occasions between December 2022 and February 2023, undercover law enforcement officers conducted controlled purchases of pills containing fentanyl from Manley.

U.S. District Chief Judge C.J. Williams sentenced Manley to 98 months in prison and ordered him to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term.

Manley is being held in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service until he is assigned to a federal prison.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Vander Stoep and was investigated as part of the Northern Iowa Heroin Initiative and the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force program of the U.S. Department of Justice through a cooperative effort of the Johnson County Drug Task Force and Cedar Rapids Police Department.

The Johnson County Drug Task Force includes officers from the Iowa City, Coralville, North Liberty and University of Iowa police departments, and Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement.

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