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So your probably ABSOLUTELY PANICKING right now because federal agents just arrested you in Des Moines as part of fentanyl trafficking organization and seized 610 grams of heroin/fentanyl mixture, 135 grams of meth, 19 firearms, and over $13,000 in cash from your operation, or maybe your facing 262 MONTHS which is almost 22 YEARS in federal prison because prosecutors proved your a high-level fentanyl dealer and member of Black P Stones criminal street gang, or worse – maybe your one of multiple defendants charged in conspiracy to distribute over 10 pounds of methamphetamine throughout Iowa and they caught you with multi-pound quantities. Maybe they arrested you in Cedar Rapids with meth from Mexican drug trafficking organizations. Maybe there charging you in Sioux City with conspiracy to distribute more than 6 kilograms of methamphetamine. Or maybe your a Colorado resident facing federal charges in Iowa after trafficking meth and fentanyl into the state. Look, we get it. Your COMPLETELY TERRIFIED. And honestly? You should be! Because in August 2025, a Des Moines man got sentenced to 262 MONTHS in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, and prosecutors proved he was high-level dealer with prior federal conviction making him career offender showing how criminal history enhancements can add YEARS to your federal sentence!
Let me explain how Iowa’s federal court system works because understanding which district your case is in REALLY matters for everything from which judge you get to what kind of sentence your facing. Iowa is divided into two separate federal judicial districts – the Northern District covering Cedar Rapids, Sioux City, Waterloo, Fort Dodge, Mason City, and northern half of the state, and the Southern District headquartered in Des Moines covering Des Moines, Davenport, Council Bluffs, Burlington, and southern half of Iowa. The split roughly follows geographic line where northern Iowa’s smaller cities like Sioux City and Cedar Rapids have different drug trafficking patterns compared to Des Moines which is state capital and largest metropolitan area.
The Southern District of Iowa based in Des Moines handles most of the major fentanyl trafficking prosecutions because Des Moines is primarily a consumer market but also serves as transshipment center for drugs coming from Chicago, Kansas City, or Omaha heading to smaller Iowa communities. In December 2024, five individuals got arrested in Des Moines with federal search warrants resulting in seizure of approximately 610 grams of heroin/fentanyl mixture, approximately 135 grams of methamphetamine, 19 firearms, and more than $13,000 showing the scale of multi-defendant trafficking organizations operating in Iowa’s capital city. When your one of multiple defendants charged together in joint state and federal investigation, the evidence against entire organization becomes overwhelming because prosecutors present wire intercepts, surveillance evidence, and cooperating witness testimony showing everyone’s roles in the conspiracy.
The Northern District handles prosecutions in Sioux City, Cedar Rapids, and Waterloo where methamphetamine trafficking from Mexican drug trafficking organizations filters into Iowa communities through Omaha Nebraska pipeline or directly from suppliers in Colorado and Texas. Amy Parks from Sioux City got sentenced to 102 months in federal prison on January 2, 2025 for conspiracy to distribute ten pounds of methamphetamine, and Dominique Burow from Sioux City got 127 months after pleading guilty to conspiracy involving more than 6 kilograms of meth showing that Northern District aggressively prosecutes multi-pound meth conspiracies with double-digit sentences even for defendants who cooperate.
Des Moines federal drug cases frequently result in 20+ year sentences because prosecutors charge career offender enhancements for defendants with prior drug convictions, stack firearm charges on top of drug charges, and attribute massive drug quantities to conspiracy members based on reasonably foreseeable amounts distributed by entire organization. The Des Moines man sentenced to 262 months was sentenced under United States Sentencing Guidelines as career offender with prior federal conviction out of Northern District of Iowa, meaning his criminal history put him in Criminal History Category VI which adds roughly 5-8 YEARS to the guideline calculation compared to someone with no prior record.
Career offender status applies under federal sentencing guidelines when you have two prior felony convictions for controlled substance offenses and your currently convicted of another drug trafficking felony. When your designated a career offender, your base offense level gets calculated differently using much harsher table that results in guideline ranges of 15-20 years or more even for quantities that would only trigger 10-year mandatories for first-time offenders. Federal drug trafficking under 21 USC 841 carries mandatory minimums of 5, 10, or 20 years depending on drug type and quantity, but career offender guidelines often exceed those mandatories creating crushing sentencing exposure.
Shannon D. Robertson got sentenced to 142 months and Earl Sandeleo Galtney got 125 months in February and March 2025 for distributing fentanyl in Des Moines metro throughout 2023 and 2024, showing that even defendants without career offender status face 10-12 year sentences for fentanyl distribution conspiracies. Federal prosecutors in Southern District are AGGRESSIVELY targeting fentanyl dealers because Iowa like rest of America is experiencing overdose crisis, and judges impose harsh sentences because they see the devastating impact fentanyl has on Iowa communities. When your charged with fentanyl conspiracy and someone died from overdose connected to your organization’s drugs, prosecutors can file death-resulting enhancement under 21 USC 841(b)(1)(C) charging mandatory 20 YEARS TO LIFE.
Iowa federal drug cases almost always include extensive firearms charges because when agents execute search warrants they seize guns along with drugs, and federal prosecutors charge both 18 USC 922(g) felon in possession and 18 USC 924(c) possession of firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. In the Des Moines case where five individuals got arrested, agents seized 19 FIREARMS along with the drugs and cash, and many of those guns resulted in separate federal charges stacking on top of drug charges. When your charged with possessing firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking under 924(c), that’s mandatory 5 years consecutive for simple possession, 7 years for brandishing, or 10 years for discharging, and these sentences run AFTER your drug sentence meaning one after the other not at same time.
Dylan Pettyjohn from Des Moines got sentenced to 25 YEARS in federal prison in June 2024 for possessing distribution quantities of methamphetamine and fentanyl plus possessing firearm as felon, showing how drug quantities triggering maybe 12-15 year guideline range combined with 5-7 year consecutive firearm sentence creates total exposure over 20 years. A Davenport man got sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for meth conspiracy and carrying firearm during drug trafficking, and another Des Moines man got 220 months for drug and firearm charges demonstrating the consistent pattern of stacking gun charges on drug cases throughout Iowa federal courts.
The fact that 19 firearms were seized in single Des Moines operation shows prosecutors treating firearms as central to drug trafficking organizations not just incidental possession. When dozens of guns are seized from stash houses and vehicles connected to conspiracy, prosecutors argue this demonstrates sophisticated criminal enterprise using firearms systematically to protect drugs and proceeds from robbery and to enforce debts and territorial disputes. Each defendant who possessed gun during drug activities faces 924(c) charges, and in multi-defendant conspiracies prosecutors charge everyone who knew organization used firearms even if specific defendant never personally touched a gun.
Iowa federal cases frequently involve defendants from Colorado, Nebraska, Illinois, or Texas who traffic drugs into Iowa because there’s profitable market in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, and Sioux City where drug prices are higher than in major cities closer to Mexican border. Ryan Miller from Colorado but residing in Pilot Mound Iowa got convicted of conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl plus possession of firearm by prohibited person, and multiple other Colorado residents have been prosecuted in Iowa federal courts for trafficking meth and fentanyl into the state showing the Colorado-to-Iowa pipeline.
William Clark Jr. from Story City Iowa pled guilty to conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl from January 2024 through April 27, 2024, showing even small Iowa towns like Story City become distribution points for drug trafficking organizations. Federal prosecutors can prove interstate commerce element easily when drugs are being shipped from Colorado or Texas into Iowa through mail parcels, commercial transportation, or couriers driving across state lines. Once drugs cross state lines, federal jurisdiction attaches and prosecutors can charge conspiracy to distribute in whichever district the drugs were received, distributed, or possessed.
Iowa federal cases often involve 5-10+ defendants charged together in single conspiracy where entire organization from out-of-state suppliers down to local distributors all get prosecuted federally, and when your one of multiple co-defendants the evidence against organization as whole becomes overwhelming even if specific evidence against you individually is weaker. In multi-defendant conspiracies, federal law makes you responsible for all reasonably foreseeable acts committed by any co-conspirator in furtherance of conspiracy’s goals, so even if you personally only handled 1 pound of meth, if the conspiracy distributed 10 pounds and you knew the scope and purpose of organization, you can be held accountable for much larger quantities than you actually touched.
A Council Bluffs couple got sentenced to federal prison for methamphetamine conspiracy, and two Burlington men got sentenced with Kendrick Ramon Page receiving 340 MONTHS which is over 28 YEARS and Breon Raquon Armstrong receiving 210 months showing the crushing sentences in multi-defendant cases where prosecutors prove leadership roles or attribute massive drug quantities. Page’s 340-month sentence suggests prosecutors proved he was organizer or leader of conspiracy which adds 4-level enhancement to sentencing calculation, and that enhancement alone adds roughly 5-7 YEARS to your sentence because guidelines treat organizers and managers much more harshly than mere participants.
Candace Sue Thein from Dike Iowa received 292 MONTHS which is over 24 YEARS after guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute controlled substance, showing that even defendants who plead guilty without going to trial still face double-digit or even 20+ year sentences when drug quantities are massive or when criminal history scores are high. Federal prosecutors in both Northern and Southern Districts of Iowa use cooperating co-defendants to testify against other members of conspiracy, and defendants who refuse to cooperate find themselves facing trial where 10-15 years worth of wiretapped phone calls, text messages, surveillance footage, and testimony from multiple cooperators creates almost insurmountable evidence.
Even though Iowa federal drug prosecutions result in harsh sentences for most defendants, there are defenses that can work if you have experienced federal criminal defense counsel. Challenging your role in conspiracy and the drug quantities attributable to you is critical – just because conspiracy distributed 10 pounds doesn’t automatically mean YOUR responsible for 10 pounds if you only participated in small portion of conspiracy or if you can prove you withdrew before major transactions occurred. We’ve successfully argued that our client was minor participant with limited knowledge of organizational scope, reducing attributable quantity from kilograms down to grams and avoiding mandatory minimums.
Withdrawal from conspiracy is powerful defense requiring proof you affirmatively communicated withdrawal to co-conspirators or took clear actions inconsistent with conspiracy like moving away, cutting off contact, or reporting conspiracy to authorities. If you withdrew six months before major seizures and arrests, your only responsible for quantities distributed during your active participation. Challenging firearms “in furtherance of” drug trafficking is huge because prosecutors have to prove gun facilitated drug activities not just that you owned guns – if firearms were kept at home for lawful hunting or protection unrelated to drug dealing, those facts undermine “in furtherance” element.
Cooperation and substantial assistance agreements are absolutely critical in Iowa multi-defendant cases because when 5-10+ people are charged together, prosecutors need cooperators to testify about organizational structure, leadership roles, and drug sources. Federal prosecutors value information about Colorado suppliers, Mexican connections, mail parcel shipping methods, and stash house locations. We’ve negotiated 5K1.1 substantial assistance departures where defendants facing 15-20 year guidelines ended up with 7-10 years because they cooperated early and provided valuable testimony before other defendants filled all the cooperation slots.
Look, defending federal cases in Iowa requires understanding of how prosecutors build multi-defendant conspiracy cases through wiretaps, cooperating witnesses, and financial analysis, plus knowledge of Iowa’s two federal districts and specific practices of prosecutors and judges in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Sioux City, and Davenport. Most Iowa criminal defense lawyers handle state court drug cases where penalties max out at 10-25 years under Iowa Code, but federal mandatory minimums for multi-kilogram quantities call for 10-20+ years and federal conspiracy law attributes entire organization’s drug quantities to individual members based on reasonably foreseeable amounts.
When your facing career offender enhancement because of prior drug convictions, you need lawyer who understands how to challenge whether prior convictions actually qualify as predicate offenses under federal guidelines, because not every state drug conviction counts as controlled substance offense for career offender purposes. We’ve successfully argued that client’s prior Iowa state convictions didn’t meet federal definition of controlled substance offense, removing career offender designation and reducing guideline range from 20+ years down to 10-12 years.
We’ve defended multi-defendant federal drug conspiracies in both Southern District (Des Moines, Davenport) and Northern District (Cedar Rapids, Sioux City). We understand how Iowa federal prosecutors attribute drug quantities, prove leadership roles, and stack firearm charges. We know which Iowa federal judges are receptive to minor participant reductions versus judges who hold all conspiracy members equally responsible. We’ve successfully negotiated cooperation agreements that reduced 20-year exposures to single digits for defendants who cooperated before indictment.
Call us RIGHT NOW at 212-300-5196
Multi-defendant conspiracy – 10+ pounds meth seized – Firearms charges – Career offender
Former federal prosecutors – Both Iowa districts – Available 24/7
Don’t talk to DEA, FBI, or Iowa task force agents without experienced Iowa federal criminal defense counsel! If your one of 5-10 defendants charged together, if organization’s 10 pounds of meth will be attributed to you, if 19 firearms create 924(c) charges, if prior drug convictions trigger career offender status adding YEARS to your sentence – call us IMMEDIATELY before making statements! Every word you say gets used to prove conspiracy membership, attribute drug quantities to you, establish your leadership role, and implicate co-defendants. With 262-month sentences for career offenders, 340 months for conspiracy leaders, and 5-year consecutive gun charges stacking on top, you need lawyers who’ve defended hundreds of Iowa federal conspiracy cases in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Sioux City, and Davenport federal courts! Call us NOW!
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NJ CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEYS