A former Iowa City man is going to prison for selling drugs to a person who later died. A federal judge has sentenced 24-year-old Kyle Messerle to five years in prison for distributing heroin.
Court documents show Messerle was at a party in Iowa City in November 2012 when he provided heroin to two individuals, who both used the drug that night. One of the individuals was found dead the next day and a medical examiner ruled the death was the result of “mixed heroin and ethanol intoxication.”
Investigators said Messerle sold the two “china white” heroin, which is heroin mixed with the prescription narcotic Fentanyl. The combination is said to be up to five-times more potent than heroin alone.