An Illinois man and a Virginia man who were caught traveling through Iowa with powdered ecstasy worth approximately $400,000 have been sentenced in federal court.

Ryan Braiske, age 28, from St. Charles, Illinois, was sentenced on April 1, 2010, to more than 11 years in prison after he pled guilty on December 7, 2009, to possessing ecstasy with intent to distribute after having previously been convicted of a felony drug offense. Braiske had a previous felony conviction for possessing cocaine. Braiske’s co-defendant, John Williams Powell Mayo, age 26, from Richmond, Virginia, was sentenced on March 18, 2010, to more than 7 years in prison after he pled guilty on December 7, 2009, to possessing ecstasy with intent to distribute.

On September 24, 2009, Braiske and Mayo were traveling in a minivan on Interstate 80 in Iowa County, Iowa, when they were stopped by an Iowa State Patrol Trooper for a seatbelt violation. The Trooper received consent to search the minivan, and more than 3.2 kilograms of powdered ecstasy were found hidden in the minivan’s sliding door panels. This was the largest seizure of ecstasy ever in the Northern District of Iowa.

Braiske and Mayo were sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade. Braiske was sentenced to 140 months’ imprisonment and ordered to pay a special assessment of $100. He must serve a six-year term of supervised release after his prison term. Mayo was sentenced to 87 months’ imprisonment and ordered to pay a special assessment of $100. He must serve a three-year term of supervised release after his prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

Braiske and Mayo are being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until they can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dan Huitink and Special Assistant United States Attorney Dan Chatham. It was investigated by the Iowa State Patrol, the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, 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; the Clinton Police Department; the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the Sixth Judicial District Department of Correctional Services; and the Iowa National Guard.

Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is CR 09-73.

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