Cedar Rapids man on the lam for 20 years heading to prison

CEDAR RAPIDS ­- A Cedar Rapids man, who was on the FBI's Most Wanted list for 20 years before turning himself in last year, was sentenced Monday to 10 years in federal prison.

A jury found Matthew West, now 50, guilty of distributing LSD in 1992.

But it remains a mystery why West walked into the Linn County Sheriff's Office on Dec. 27, 2014, and turned himself in.

During his sentencing hearing on Monday, neither the prosecutor nor defense attorney mentioned where West had been or what he had been doing since 1994.

Jonathan Hammond of Cedar Rapids, West's attorney, did not return a phone message Tuesday.

A jury convicted West on Dec. 3, 1992, on one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute LSD, a psychedelic drug.

Court records show West obtained around 12,000 hits of LSD from out-of-state sources between October 1990 and October 1991. He sold the LSD to others who redistributed the drug in Cedar Rapids.

After his conviction, West requested a new trial. The court granted that request and West was released on bond in 1993. West didn't show for a hearing, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

According to FBI and court records, West went from coaching the drum line after high school to operating a local tie-dye shop and selling shirts at Grateful Dead concerts to then selling LSD.

A superseding indictment filed in September 1993 was dismissed after West turned himself in. Prosecutors sought another indictment after the trial judge granted the request for a new trial but then the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned it. U.S.

District Chief Judge Linda Reade on Monday also ordered West pay a $6,000 fine and serve three years on supervised release after his prison time is completed.