DEA
SIOUX CITY – Two men who conspired to distribute meth were sentenced to federal prison. Erick Corona Cardenas, 30, Denison, Iowa, but illegally in the United States, and Daniel Limon Bastidas, 23, from Denison, Iowa, received the prison terms after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine within a protected location.
Evidence showed that Corona Cardenas and Limon Bastidas were involved in a conspiracy from January 2017 through February 2018 that distributed more than 2 kilograms of methamphetamine in the Denison, Iowa area. On two separate occasions, law enforcement executed search warrants at the men’s residences where approximately 1 pound and ½ pound quantities of methamphetamine were seized that the men intended to distribute to others. During two controlled drug transactions in the Hy-Vee parking lot in Denison, Corona Cardenas and Limon Bastidas first distributed ½ pound and later were in possession of one pound of methamphetamine. The parking lot for Hy-Vee is within the protected location of Washington Park, a public playground.
Both men were sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand. Corona Cardenas was sentenced to 120 months’ imprisonment and Limon Bastidas was sentenced to 90 months’ imprisonment. Each must also serve a 10-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shawn S. Wehde and investigated by the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, Iowa DCI Laboratory, Denison Police Department, and the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office.
