A 32-year-old Kansas man caught selling half an ounce of meth to a police informant in a Falls City parking lot has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison.
U.S. District Judge Brian C. Buescher sentenced Cody Rhyne, of Hiawatha, Kansas, to the prison time plus three years of supervised release for possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and use of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.
He pleaded guilty.
U.S. Attorney Joe Kelly said on Dec. 4, 2019, Rhyne drove to Falls City, where he sold an informant half an ounce of methamphetamine, then became involved in a police chase, with speeds reaching 105 mph.
During the pursuit, Rhyne ran three stop signs and one traffic-control device, turned in front of a semi and was almost hit at the intersection of Nebraska 8 and U.S. 75.
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He was arrested after his Cadillac ran out of gas south of Humboldt.
Kelly said officers found a Taurus 9mm handgun, a loaded handgun magazine containing hollow-point rounds, digital scales and six plastic bags containing just less than 300 grams of a meth mixture.
Rhyne admitted that he sold 10 grams of meth and a .22-caliber rifle to the informant and that he planned to sell more meth.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a national initiative of the Department of Justice to reduce and prevent violent crime.