CEDAR RAPIDS – A young woman died after Iowa coke dealers spreading their poison nears parks and schools ingested the substance, and now one of the conspirators will spend decades in a tiny cell.
Maurice Randolph, age 44, from Dubuque, Iowa, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to distribute 500 grams of more of cocaine within 1000 feet of several parks and schools in Dubuque, Iowa, between 2017 and April of 2021, that resulted in the death of a young Dubuque woman on February 14, 2021.
At the plea hearing, Randolph admitted he was a member of a conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine in the Dubuque area near numerous parks and schools. He admitted that on February 14, 2021, one of his coconspirators distributed cocaine to a young woman in Dubuque who went home, used the cocaine and died.
Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Randolph remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing. Randolph faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a $10,000,000 fine, and 8 years to life on supervised release following any imprisonment.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Patrick J. Reinert and Nicole Nagin and investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Iowa Medical Examiner’s Office and the Dubuque Drug Task Force, comprised of Dubuque Police Department, Dubuque Sheriff’s Office.