Lexington woman sentenced for meth distribution scheme

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – A Lexington woman was sentenced Thursday for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in central Nebraska.

Mikayla Daleness, 26, got 6½ years in federal prison with a five-year term of supervised release.

From summer 2023 into early 2024, Daleness and three others from Cozad worked together to haul pounds of methamphetamine from Colorado to the Lexington-Cozad area.

Search warrants for Facebook messages allowed investigators to identify Daleness and the people she was working with.

The warrants also allowed them to find all the houses were meth was being sold.

During a search of a co-conspirator’s house in January 2024, investigators found a loaded handgun, ammunition, methamphetamine and items used to distribute drugs.

After searching the residents’ cellphones, investigators found messages showing drug distribution.

Recorded jail calls tipped investigators to the group’s travel plans to get more meth from Colorado.

A tracking device led investigators to making a traffic stop in February 2024. Daleness was a passenger in the car.

A later search of her home in Cozad turned up drug use and distribution paraphernalia.