Cedar Rapids Woman Involved in Methamphetamine Conspiracy Sentenced to Prison

A woman who conspired with others to distribute methamphetamine was sentenced today to more than 12 years in federal prison.

Brandy Herman, age 48, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after a November 7, 2023 guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and three counts of distribution of a controlled substance.

Evidence at the plea and sentencing hearings showed that Herman 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.  Herman received multiple packages to her address in Cedar Rapids containing methamphetamine from California on behalf of one of her co‑conspirators.  In addition, Herman and one of her co-conspirators utilized Herman’s daughter’s address to receive packages from California that contained methamphetamine. 

Herman was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams.  Herman was sentenced to 145 months’ imprisonment.  She must also serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Herman is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until she 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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