Courtesy Photo­Image Joseph Panek

Joseph Panek, 29, of North Platte was sentenced Monday to 87 months in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

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Panek was held responsible for the distribution of at least 350 grams (12 and a half ounces) of a mixture containing methamphetamine from August 2010 to August 2011.

When Panek completes his 7 year, 3 month imprisonment, he will serve five years on supervised release, U.S. Attorney Deb Gilg said.

Panek was first arrested in North Platte a year ago, when police received a report of a suspicious vehicle near Sonic and Pizza Hut, just south of the South Platte River, at 1 a.m.

An officer found meth and meth paraphernalia in the car. It was parked in the Quality Inn parking lot, Lt. Rich Thompson said at the time.

This case was investigated by the CODE (Cooperative Drug Enforcement) Task Force, comprised of law enforcement agencies throughout a 22-county area in west-central/southwest Nebraska.

The CODE organizatoin includes the North Platte Police, Dawson County Sheriff, Lincoln County Sheriff, Red Willow County Sheriff, Frontier County Sheriff, Nebraska State Patrol, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).