SIOUX CITY – A Mason City woman who conspired to distribute methamphetamine is in a jail awaiting a possible life sentence after a guilty plea.
Cori Benson (pictured at top), age 36 of Mason City, pled guilty December 16, 2025, in federal court in Sioux City. She was convicted of one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
At the plea hearing, Benson admitted that from August 2024 through October 2024, she and others conspired to distribute at least 150 grams of pure methamphetamine. In October 2024, law enforcement stopped a vehicle Benson was driving and found over ½ pound of pure methamphetamine in Benson’s purse, and two firearms in the vehicle. Benson admitted that she and another transported about one kilogram of methamphetamine from Des Moines, Iowa, to Pierre, South Dakota, for distribution.
Sentencing before United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Benson remains held in the Woodbury County Jail until she is sentenced, in custody of the United States Marshal. Benson faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a $10,000,000 fine, and at least five years of supervised release following any imprisonment.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shawn S. Wehde and was investigated by the Tri-State Drug Task Force based in Sioux City, Iowa, that consists of law enforcement personnel from the Drug Enforcement Administration; Sioux City, Iowa, Police Department; Homeland Security Investigations; Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office; South Sioux City, Nebraska, Police Department; Nebraska State Patrol; Iowa National Guard; Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement; United States Marshals Service; South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation; and Woodbury County Attorney’s Office.