Two Council Bluffs men were sentenced in US District Court in Council Bluffs according to United States Attorney Nicholas A. Klinefeldt Thursday.

27-year-old Steven Lacey Etherington and 34-year-old Nicholas Joseph Franks, both of Council Bluffs, were sentenced on September 18 in United States District Court in Council Bluffs for their roles in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.  United States District Court Judge John A. Jarvey sentenced Etherington to 150 months in prison, to be followed by 5 years of supervised release. Judge Jarvey sentenced Franks to 133 months imprisonment, plus 5 years of supervised release for the drug trafficking conspiracy, and 120 months imprisonment, plus 3 years of supervised release for the firearms conviction, with the sentences on both counts to be served concurrently.

The conspiracy involved distribution of methamphetamine to some females under age 21, the operation of a drug house in Council Bluffs, and trading stolen property for methamphetamine.  Franks was also involved in the sale, in Council Bluffs, on or about July 27, 2011, of a stolen shotgun and fifty shells to what he later learned was an undercover officer from the South West Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force. At the time of the sale, Franks had previously been convicted of Theft in the Second Degree.