(Carroll) The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa says 32-year-old Shawn Zak, of Carroll, pled guilty on Wednesday in federal court in Sioux City to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and illegal possession of a firearm.
At the plea hearing, Zak admitted that from June 2025 through September 2025, he and others conspired to distribute more than 1500 grams of methamphetamine in the Carroll, Iowa, area. On September 11, 2025, Zak was approached by law enforcement based on an active warrant for his arrest. At the time Zak provided a false name to officers and he was arrested. During his arrest, Zak had a brief, physical struggle with law enforcement. Law enforcement seized 53.19 grams of pure methamphetamine, some marijuana, .22 caliber ammunition, indicia of drug dealing including baggies, syringes, and scale weights from the vehicle. Zak admitted he planned to distribute the methamphetamine to others. Law enforcement later recovered a .22 caliber handgun which Zak possessed in the vehicle in which he was stopped. Zak further admitted he received the .22 caliber handgun from another person earlier in September 2025.
Zak was previously convicted of burglary in January 2023 in Iowa and criminal trespass in Pennsylvania in 2017. The felony convictions prohibited Zak from possessing a firearm.
Sentencing before United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Zak remains in custody of the United States Marshal and will remain in custody pending sentencing. Zak faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a $10,250,000 fine, and at least five years of supervised release following any imprisonment.
