Waterloo Man Convicted of Methamphetamine and Firearm Charges

A Waterloo man who conspired to distribute large quantities of methamphetamine and was a felon in possession of a firearm pled guilty yesterday in federal court in Cedar Rapids.

Derrick Plunkett, 37, from Waterloo, Iowa, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine with a prior felony drug conviction and one count of possession of a firearm with three or more felony convictions for violent or serious drug crimes.

At the plea hearing, Plunkett admitted that he worked with others to distribute well more than 500 grams of methamphetamine in the Waterloo, Iowa, area between the spring of 2013 and May 2015.  Plunkett admitted that on April 7, 2015, he was in possession of a Glock firearm and had previously been convicted of at least three felony offenses, specifically: Robbery-Second Degree and two separate cases of possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine.

Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade will be set after a presentence report is prepared.  Plunkett remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing.  For the drug charge, Plunkett faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment and the following maximum penalties: (1) not more than life imprisonment without the possibility of parole; (2) a fine of not more than $20,000,000; (3) a mandatory special assessment of $100; and (4) a term of supervised release of at least 10 years to life.

For the firearms charge, Plunkett faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment without the possibility of parole and the following maximum penalties: (1) not more than life imprisonment without the possibility of parole; (2) a fine of not more than $250,000; (3) a mandatory special assessment of $100; and (4) a term of supervised release of not more than 5 years.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Patrick J. Reinert and Lisa Williams, 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 Tri-County Drug Task Force, comprised of the Waterloo Police Department, Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office, Cedar Falls Police Department, LaPorte City Police Department, Hudson Police Department, Evansdale Police Department, University of Northern Iowa Police Department, Waverly Police Department and the Bremer County Sheriff’s Office; the Mid-Iowa Task Force, comprised of the Marshalltown Police Department, Marshall County Sheriff’s Office, Tama County Sheriff’s Office, Grundy County Sheriff’s Office, Hardin County Sheriff’s Office, Iowa Falls Police Department, Eldora Police Department and the Dysart Police Department; and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Task Force consisting of the DEA; the Linn County Sheriff's Office; the Cedar Rapids Police Department; the Marion Police Department; the Iowa City Police Department; and the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement.

Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.  The case file number is CR 15-2035.

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