Obama shortens sentence of man from Willmar

By Linda Vanderwerf

October 06, 2016 04:50 PM

WILLMAR - President Barack Obama commuted the sentences of 102 people Thursday, including a man from Willmar.

Nathan Robert Engel, 37, has been in prison in Iowa. His sentence was reduced by more than 10 years.

According to a 2008 Drug Enforcement Agency news release, Engel was sentenced to 21 years and 10 months in prison in August 2008 after pleading guilty to conspiring to distribute methamphetamine in western Iowa. He was ordered to serve 10 years on supervised release after he was released from prison.

Obama ordered Engel's release from prison on Oct. 6, 2018, and ordered that he enter residential drug treatment after his release.

According to the DEA news release, Engel had been involved in a network that distributed methamphetamine from Mexico through Omaha into western Iowa.

Related Topics: CRIME

By Linda Vanderwerf

In 42 years in the newspaper industry, Linda Vanderwerf has worked at several daily newspapers in Minnesota, including the Mesabi Daily News, now called the Mesabi Tribune in Virginia. Previously, she worked for the Las Cruces Sun-News in New Mexico and the Rapid City Journal in the Black Hills of South Dakota. She has been a reporter at the West Central Tribune for nearly 27 years.

Vanderwerf can be reached at email: lvanderwerf@wctrib.com or phone 320-214-4340

Obama shortens sentence of man from Willmar

WILLMAR -- President Barack Obama commuted the sentences of 102 people Thursday, including a man from Willmar. Nathan Robert Engel, 37, has been in prison in Iowa. His sentence was reduced by more than 10 years. According to a 2008 Drug Enforceme...