North Platte Man Sentenced to More Than 11 Years for Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine

United States Attorney Lesley A. Woods announced that Michael W. Stroble, 32, of North Platte, Nebraska, was sentenced on September 11, 2025, in federal court in Lincoln for one count of conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine actual. United States District Judge Susan M. Bazis sentenced Stroble to 138 months' imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. After Stroble's release from prison, he will begin a 5-year term of supervised release.

Between July 2022 and February 2023, Joey Romero, Jamie Hopkins, Michael Stroble, Luke Schwartz, and others conspired to sell methamphetamine in and around North Platte. The group was responsible for the distribution of pounds of methamphetamine and was subject to multiple controlled buys, search warrants, and arrests.

By January 2023, Stroble and Hopkins were dating, living together, and selling methamphetamine together. On January 17, 2023, a controlled buy of 48 grams of methamphetamine from Schwartz and Stroble occurred less than half a mile from Hopkin's home. On January 30, 2023, another controlled buy of 36 grams of methamphetamine from Hopkins and Stroble occurred at Hopkins's home.

A search warrant was served on Hopkins's residence in North Platte on February 7, 2023. During the search, law enforcement found multiple baggies of methamphetamine to include on a nightstand, a bed, Hopkins's purse, on the floor, and in the toilet. Law enforcement also found two bongs, 29 pills, owe notes, three scales, spoons with residue, 224 rounds of 9mm ammunition, a box of Winchester .380 ammunition with 23 rounds in it, and empty baggies in the house.

Stroble's co-defendants were sentenced in 2024. Schwartz was sentenced on September 5, 2024, to 120 months' imprisonment; Hopkins was sentenced on October 17, 2024, to 120 months' imprisonment; and Romero was sentenced on December 12, 2024, to 120 months' imprisonment.

This case was investigated by the CODE Task Force which is made up of law enforcement agencies throughout a 22-county area in west-central/southwest Nebraska and includes the North Platte Police Department, Lexington Police Department, Dawson County Sheriff's Office, Ogallala Police Department, Nebraska State Patrol, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Homeland Security Investigations.