Timothy T. Duax U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa
Cleveland Stephens, also known as “Schmitty,” age 63, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. The plea was entered on August 27, 2025, in Cedar Rapids.
According to the plea agreement, Stephens admitted that between August 2022 and June 2024 he conspired with another person to distribute at least 500 grams of a mixture or substance containing methamphetamine and at least 50 grams of pure methamphetamine.
Sentencing will be scheduled after a presentence report is prepared by the court. Stephens remains in custody pending sentencing. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years in prison and could receive up to life imprisonment without parole. In addition, he may be fined up to $250,000 and could face a lifetime term of supervised release after serving his sentence.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Devra T. Hake and Dillan Edwards. The investigation involved the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Cedar Rapids Police Department, the Linn County Sheriff’s Office, and the Benton County Sheriff’s Office. This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF uses a prosecutor-led and intelligence-driven approach involving multiple agencies to target high-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States. More information about OCDETF can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
“OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.”
