A Marshalltown man convicted of killing a man during a drug deal dispute was sentenced to 87 years in prison Monday.

Jeremy A. Gartin, 30, was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter, abuse of a corpse and carrying a concealed weapon in the Oct. 1, 2013 death of David Warnell. However, the bulk of the sentence – 65 years – stems from Gartin’s testimony about selling methamphetamine and possessing a gun as a felon. Gartin will be required to serve a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years. He is also responsible for fines, court costs and a $150,000 mandatory payment for a felony resulting in death.

Warnell, a 57-year-old Garwin man, was shot in the head with a .44 revolver at Gartin’s Marshalltown home, 502 N. Fourth Ave., where Gartin lived with his father. Warnell’s body was mutilated post-mortem – his teeth, fingertips and tattoos removed with various tools. Police discovered Warnell’s body tied up and wrapped in a sleeping bag in the basement of Gartin’s home.

The sentencing hearing, conducted by Judge James Ellfeson at the Marshall County Courthouse, filled the seating gallery with family and friends of both Warnell and Gartin. Gartin appeared clad in jailhouse orange, his feet and hands shackled.

In response to drug and weapons charges filed last week, Gartin and his attorney, Paul Rounds, made a plea agreement with the state. Those charges, as well as two prior probation revocation cases were grouped with the manslaughter case. Sentencing was decided over the course of nearly two hours.

Warnell’s brother, Brian Warnell, gave a victim impact statement before sentencing. He said that he did not agree with the lifestyle David Warnell was living, but that he did not deserve to be “butchered.” He also said he was worried about what Gartin might be capable of should he be released.

Daniel Warnell, another brother of David Warnell’s, also gave a victim impact statement.

“I don’t feel justice was done,” he said. “Somewhere down the road justice has to be done.”

Marshall County Attorney Jennifer Miller recommended a maximum sentence for all charges.

“The defendant does have an extensive criminal history; the Department of Corrections did deem him to be at high-risk to reoffend,” Miller said. “Certainly given his history of violent and assaultive behavior, his involvement with drugs and weapons he is certainly a danger to this community.”

When given the opportunity, Gartin made a statement, claiming he’d taken responsibility for his actions by testifying during his trial and making admissions to those crimes.

He expressed regret and apologized to the Warnell family.

“I am sorry for what happened, and I am sorry for their loss,” Gartin said.

During his trial, Gartin said he never intended to shoot Warnell, but had pointed the gun at him in an attempt to get him to leave his home.

Warnell, who had purchased meth from Gartin earlier in the evening, had returned to Gartin’s home claiming Gartin shorted him during the drug transaction. Max E. Nelson Jr., of Marshalltown, was an eyewitness to the shooting.

Nelson, who testified for the prosecution, is charged with accessory after the fact, abuse of a corpse and first-degree theft. Nelson said he arranged for Warnell, his second cousin, to buy drugs from Gartin.

Gartin never disputed the abuse of a corpse charge. Gartin and Nelson devised a plan to dispose of the body following Warnell’s death, he said. The two were high on meth when they disfigured the body, Gartin said. The plan also included burying the body, which is why three shovels were found at Gartin’s home when police processed the crime scene, he said.

Gartin also called his garbage man, an acquaintance, to assure his garbage would be collected that day. Police, and Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation agents processed dozens of items from garbage bags, including Warnell’s body parts, bloody sections of carpet and the clothes Gartin and Nelson were wearing when the body was disfigured.

Officers found the .44 revolver hidden in the home between a mattress and box springs, along with some ammunition and Warnell’s car keys.

Police began investigating when they received a call from Gartin’s best friend, Ruben Martinez. Gartin inadvertently called Martinez’s phone, leaving a telling voicemail, following the shooting.

In the voicemail, which the state submitted as evidence, Gartin says something about pulling a trigger, the gun going ‘pow’ and that he shot someone in the head. He also mentions stabbing someone in the heart and burning a couch. In the recording, Gartin said twice “it was an accident.”

Martinez testified that he talked to Gartin a couple of times that morning, but he could not convince his friend to alert authorities.

Police conducted surveillance near Gartin’s home and eventually apprehended him when he left the house with Nelson, dropping him off at a convenience store and then went to make a car payment.

Officers said Gartin was calm and cooperative at the time of his arrest.

Gartin, who has several felony crime convictions, testified about a long history of methamphetamine abuse. He said he first used the drug in middle school and again in high school. For many years he was a regular meth user, he said. Gartin, who will turn 31 years old next week, said he’d been selling meth to make extra money last fall, but hadn’t been using the drug. He quit, he said, because he couldn’t be the father he wanted to be to his two young children.

Gartin’s week-long trial was held in December at the Cerro Gordo County Courthouse in Mason City after Gartin requested a speedy trial and a change of venue due to pretrial publicity. Gartin was charged with first-degree murder, however, the jury returned a guilty verdict for the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter.