SIOUX CITY – A Spencer woman has been sentenced this week to 10 years in federal prison for conspiring to use family members from Utah to manufacture meth that she could then deal.
Alauna Gaye Morris, 58, from Spencer, Iowa, received the prison term after a September 8, 2017, guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
During prior court proceedings, the government presented evidence that on September 8, 2016, law enforcement arrested Morris on a statewide warrant for an unrelated matter. After executing search warrants on her residence and vehicle, officers seized close to 200 grams of actual (pure) methamphetamine, $10,108.82 in cash, a digital scale, and multiple electronic devices.
At sentencing, the government presented evidence that, during the course of the conspiracy, two co-conspirators reached an agreement with Morris in which they would pay $50,000 for ten pounds of methamphetamine. Morris intended to recruit family members out of Utah to manufacture the ten-pound quantity.
Morris was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand. Morris was sentenced to 120 months’ imprisonment. A special assessment of $100 was imposed. She must also serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Morris is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until she can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney
Ajay J. Alexander and investigated by the Iowa Great Lakes Drug Task Force, including the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, O’Brien County Sheriff’s Office, and the Department of Criminal Investigations.
