LINCOLN, Neb. -- A woman from Lincoln was sentenced to almost 22 years in prison after she reportedly stole drugs from the Nebraska State Patrol.

Acting U.S. Attorney Susan Lehr said 38-year-old Anna Idigima, of Lincoln, was sentenced on Wednesday. She was convicted for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine, 400 grams or more of fentanyl and 50 kilograms or more of marijuana, resulting in serious bodily injury. Idigima will serve 262 months in prison with a five-year term of supervised release after. There is no parole in the federal system.

According to court documents, a Nebraska State Patrol stored evidence room employee, Idigima, started stealing drugs from completed NSP cases that were awaiting destruction orders at the beginning of June 2021. She gave the drugs to her boyfriend and co-defendant, George Weaver, who sold them in Lincoln.

Video footage from NSP’s Lincoln evidence storage facility showed Idigima opening sealed boxes, taking items from those boxes, putting them in garbage bags and loading the bags into her personal vehicle on multiple times between June 16, 2021, and Aug. 12, 2021. The Lincoln/Lancaster County Narcotics Task Force, began an audit of the NSP evidence storage areas that Idigima had access to. Idigima was fired by NSP due to the investigation in September 2021.

Officials said the following totals of drugs were found to be missing in the audit: 154 pounds of marijuana, 19 pounds of cocaine, six pounds of fentanyl, 10 pounds of heroin, three pounds of methamphetamine, 32 pounds of THC, 1,720 of THC vape cartridges, and several assorted pills.

The investigators searched Weaver’s SnapChat account and found drug-related conversations and a photo of numerous large bags of marijuana on a bed in August 2021. One of the bags had a piece of red evidence label tape on it that was consistent with the tape that NSP used. In a search of an apartment rented by Weaver, investigators found residue containing cocaine, fentanyl, and marijuana.

Authorities said a Nebraska City couple overdosed at their home in Nebraska City on Aug. 2, 2021. One of them needed CPR and both were given Narcan. They were both hospitalized in Omaha. Two bags of white powder with cocaine and fentanyl were found. After recovering, the couple told investigators they bought what they believed was an ounce of cocaine from a Lincoln resident. That person was contacted and he said he bought what he believed to be cocaine from Weaver and sold it to the Nebraska City couple. It was this cocaine, laced with fentanyl, that caused the couple’s overdoses.

A Lincoln man was found unconscious by first responders on Aug. 18, 2021 and was given CPR, Narcan, and was hospitalized. Two grams of white substance was found in his car and two more grams were found in his wallet. Both were found to contain cocaine and fentanyl. The victim later told investigators he bought what he thought was cocaine earlier that day from another Lincoln resident and said he had used some in his car just before his overdose.

The seller of the cocaine and fentanyl for the Aug. 18, 2021, overdose was arrested on Aug. 20, 2021 and had one ounce of cocaine and fentanyl. He agreed to work with law enforcement and told them he got the drugs from Weaver one to two weeks before his arrest. After his arrest, working with investigators, the seller met with Weaver at Idigima's home and talked about paying Weaver for previously bought drugs, including the cocaine that caused the Aug. 18 overdose.

According to court documents, other cooperating witnesses provided information about buying cocaine made from Weaver beginning in June 2021. One of those witnesses was arrested on Aug. 12, 2021, after a search warrant was used at his Lincoln home where six pounds of cocaine and more than $3,400 in cash were found. Weaver told the witness his source was a woman. The witness saw this woman on one time and later identified her as Idigima after seeing photos that appeared in the press after Weaver’s and Idigima’s arrests in fall 2021. The witness also said he saw Weaver had 20 one-pound bags of marijuana, THC, and three large gray evidence bags that had a white dust that Weaver claimed was cocaine, but the witness said the appearance and taste were not consistent with cocaine.

Two other cooperating witnesses reported buying pills from Weaver and Idigima in August or September 2021 with one of the witnesses saying payment for the pills was sent to Idigima’s CashApp account.

Officials said Idigima, who was in the Saline County Jail at the time, sent a letter to an inmate at the Nebraska Correctional Center for Women in York in January 2023. The letter was intercepted by jail staff pursuant to policy. In the letter, Idigima identified herself as “Anna Idigima” and wrote, “You may have heard about the case. I was the evidence tech from the Nebraska State Patrol who took 1.2 million in drugs and sold them.”

This case was investigated by the Lincoln/Lancaster County Narcotics Task Force (Lincoln Police Department, Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office and UNL Police Department), the Nebraska State Patrol, the Nebraska City Police Department, and the Saline County Sheriff’s Office.