CEDAR RAPIDS – This Waterloo woman who possessed nearly a kilogram of meth was nabbed by cops after receiving her poison from her family in Mexico, and now will be pacing a tiny prison cell.
Sylvia Rubio-Rincon (pictured at top), age 21, from Waterloo, Iowa, received a 2-year prison term at a sentenced November 20 sentencing after a June 9, 2025, guilty plea to possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute.
Evidence at the sentencing hearing showed that undercover agents communicated with a suspected methamphetamine source of supply residing in Mexico. Agents arranged for the delivery of nearly a kilogram of methamphetamine. As Rubio-Rincon drove to meet with an undercover officer, officers stopped and searched her car. Officers found over 900 grams of methamphetamine. Rubio-Rincon said she was paid to deliver the methamphetamine by a family member who lived in Mexico.
Rubio-Rincon was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams. Rubio-Rincon was sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment. She must also serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Rubio-Rincon is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until she can be transported to a federal prison.
This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Iowa is headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, with a satellite office in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and is comprised of agents and officers from Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, the United States Marshals Service, and the United States Postal Inspection Service. This HSTF case was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Michael S.A. Hudson and investigated by HSTF Iowa, with the assistance of the Tri-County Drug Enforcement Task Force consisting of the Waterloo Police Department, Cedar Falls Police Department, Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Department, Evansdale Police Department, Waverly Police Department, Hudson Police Department, La Porte City Police Department, and the Bremer County Sheriff’s Department; and the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement;.