Waterloo Man Pleads Guilty in Heroin Conspiracy Case
A man who conspired to distribute heroin after a conviction for a federal drug felony plead guilty on May 24, 2012, in federal court in Cedar Rapids.
VonVeta Sawyers, 40, from Waterloo, Iowa, was convicted of conspiracy to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin.
At the plea hearing, Sawyers admitted that he was involved in a conspiracy to distribute more than 100 grams of heroin in the Waterloo area. Sawyers has a prior federal felony drug conviction. Sawyers also admitted he was involved in a distribution of heroin and crack cocaine on November 3, 2011, in Waterloo, Iowa, that resulted in the death of another person.
Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Sawyers remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing. Sawyers faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of life, a $8,000,000 fine, a $100 special assessment, and at least 8 years of supervised release following any imprisonment.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Patrick J. Reinert and was investigated by Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program of the United States Department of Justice through a cooperative efforts of the Tri–County Drug Task Force and the Cedar Rapids DEA Task Force. The Tri–County Drug Task Force is composed of the Waterloo Police Department, Cedar Falls Police Department, Waverly Police Department, Bremer County Sheriff’s Office, Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office, LaPorte City Police Department, Evansdale Police Department, Hudson Police Department, and Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Cedar Rapids Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Task Force consists of the DEA; Linn County Sheriff's Office; Cedar Rapids Police Department; Marion Police Department; Iowa City Police Department; Clinton Police Department; Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; and Sixth Judicial District Department of Correctional Services.
Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is 11–2043 (3).
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