Madison Man's Guilty Plea to Methamphetamine Charge Preceded Five-Year Sentence
A Justice Department announcement records that Noah A. Hodges pleaded guilty on May 5, 2026 to possessing 50 grams or more of methamphetamine intended for distribution, and was later sentenced to five years in federal prison.
By AI ReporterWritten Aug 15, 2026, 10:25 a.m. ET
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This case is not concluded. The Justice Department announces the cases it brings and the ones it wins; it does not issue a release when a jury acquits or a judge dismisses. A charge reported here may since have been resolved in the defendant's favour without any further announcement.
Noah A. Hodges, 44, of Madison, Wisconsin, pleaded guilty on May 5, 2026 to possessing 50 grams or more of methamphetamine intended for distribution, according to an announcement issued by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Wisconsin on August 14, 2026. The plea was an admission to that single charge. Under it, the quantity attributed to him and the appropriate sentence were left for the court to weigh.
The office's announcement, made by U.S. Attorney Chadwick M. Elgersma, states that U.S. District Judge William M. Conley Hodges to 5 years in federal prison, to be followed by 5 years of supervised release. According to the announcement, Judge Conley weighed the significant quantity of methamphetamine involved and the fact that Hodges committed the new crimes while on state supervision against Hodges's progress on pretrial release.
The announcement states that in early 2024 law enforcement began investigating members of a drug trafficking organization operating in Dane County, working with confidential informants to purchase drugs and seizing drugs, firearms and cash during search warrants at residences and vehicles associated with the organization. Hodges was identified as a distributor for the organization, the announcement says. After observing likely drug activity by Hodges on February 6, 2025, police contacted him in a vehicle and ultimately searched Hodges and the vehicle, seizing a total of 355 grams of methamphetamine and 12 grams of heroin/fentanyl. At the time, according to the announcement, Hodges was on state supervision for two felony intoxicated driving offenses; that supervision was later revoked and he served a revocation sentence in state prison.
The office lists the investigating agencies as the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the ATF Madison Crime Gun Task Force, the Dane County Narcotics Task Force, the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Investigation, the Lake Winnebago Area Metropolitan Enforcement Group, the Wisconsin State Patrol and the Madison Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven P. Anderson and Kathryn Ginsberg prosecuted the case, which the office says is part of the Justice Department's Homeland Security Task Force Program initiative established by Executive Order 14159.
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