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Press Release

Cedar Rapids Man Involved in Methamphetamine Trafficking Sentenced to Federal Prison

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Iowa

A man who conspired with others to distribute methamphetamine was sentenced today to more than 15 years in federal prison.

Calvin Williams, age 39, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after an October 20, 2023 guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance after a prior conviction for a serious drug felony and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Evidence at the plea and sentencing hearings showed that Williams was involved in a large-scale drug trafficking organization that was responsible for mailing methamphetamine from California to Iowa through the United States Postal Service.  Williams and a co-defendant developed a source of supply in California who was sending packages containing methamphetamine through the United States Postal Service to several addresses in Cedar Rapids.  Williams and a co-defendant would wrap the cash proceeds from the distribution of controlled substances, and they would mail the proceeds back to their source of supply in California in packages that listed fake names and return addresses.

Williams was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams.  Williams was sentenced to 183 months’ imprisonment.  He must also serve a ten-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Williams is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Adam J. Vander Stoep and was investigated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program of the United States Department of

Justice through a cooperative effort of the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Task Force.  The DEA Task Force consists of the DEA, the Linn County Sheriff's Office, the Cedar Rapids Police Department, the Marion Police Department, and the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl

The case file number is 22-CR-91.

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Updated April 15, 2024

Topic
Drug Trafficking