Three Marshalltown residents who conspired to distribute methamphetamine were convicted by a jury on Aug. 16, 2016, after a five-day trial in federal court in Cedar Rapids.
Daniela Castellanos, 29, Juan Flores, a/k/a Alejandro Becerra, 28, and Marcos Perez-Trevino, 46, all from Marshalltown, Iowa, were convicted of conspiring to distribute methamphetamine. The verdict was returned following about three hours of jury deliberations.
The evidence at trial showed that all three individuals were involved in a large conspiracy responsible for distributing multiple pounds of ice methamphetamine throughout Northern Iowa. Flores and Perez-Trevino served as sources of supply for the organization, distributing methamphetamine in multiple ounce and pound quantities, while Castellanos was responsible for transporting and delivering methamphetamine and wiring drug proceeds to Mexico. To date, over thirty individuals have been found guilty of conspiring to distribute methamphetamine as part of this organization.
Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade will be set after a presentence report is prepared. All three defendants remain in custody of the United States Marshal. Perez-Trevino face a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, over $10,000,000 in fines, $100 in special assessments, and at least five years of supervised release following any imprisonment. Castellanos and Flores face up to twenty years imprisonment, over $1,000,000 in fines, $100 in special assessments, and at least three years of supervised release.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lisa C. Williams 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 Tri-County Drug Task Force, comprised of the Waterloo Police Department, Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office, Cedar Falls Police Department, LaPorte City Police Department, Hudson Police Department, Evansdale Police Department, University of Northern Iowa Police Department, Waverly Police Department and the Bremer County Sheriff’s Office; the Mid-Iowa Task Force, comprised of the Marshalltown Police Department, Marshall County Sheriff’s Office, Tama County Sheriff’s Office, Grundy County Sheriff’s Office, Hardin County Sheriff’s Office, Iowa Falls Police Department, Eldora Police Department and the Dysart Police Department; and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Task Force consisting of the DEA; the Linn County Sheriff's Office; the Cedar Rapids Police Department; the Marion Police Department; the Iowa City Police Department; and the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 15-cr-2037.
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
