CEDAR RAPIDS – Two men who conspired to distribute methamphetamine were each sentenced January 26, 2015, to more than 11 years in federal prison after North Iowa after the North Central Iowa Narcotics Task Force assisted in the investiagation.
Isaias Vasquez-Amaya, age 31, of Crystal, Minnesota, received the prison term after a November 13, 2014, guilty plea, and Jose Nicolas Vasquez-Mendez, age 30, of Crystal, Minnesota, received his prison term after an October 10, 2014, guilty plea. Each pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
Information provided by the United States at the sentencing hearings and change of plea hearings showed Vasquez-Mendez distributed methamphetamine to confidential informants during his involvement in the conspiracy from February 2014 through August 27, 2014. Vasquez-Amaya was involved in controlled buys from undercover officers on numerous occasions and was responsible for the distribution of more than 500 grams of actual (pure) methamphetamine. Both were in possession of more than 600 grams of actual (pure) methamphetamine on August 27, 2014, during a traffic stop.
Vasquez-Amaya and Vasquez-Mendez were sentenced in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade. Each were sentenced to 135 months’ imprisonment. Both must also serve a 5-year term of supervised release after the prison term. Vasquez-Amaya was ordered to pay a $200 special assessment and Vasquez-Mendez was ordered to pay a $100 special assessment. There is no parole in the federal system.
Both are being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until they can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney John Lammers 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 Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Iowa Department of Public Safety Division of Narcotics Enforcement, the Iowa State Patrol, the South Central Drug Investigation Unit out of Minnesota, and the North Central Iowa Narcotics Task Force, based in Mason City, Iowa.
