another waterloo methamphetamine conspirator sentenced
Contact: Peter Deegan
A man who was part of a Waterloo drug conspiracy was sentenced July 22, 2010, to over five years in federal prison.
Thomas Blitsch, 39, from Waterloo, Iowa, received the prison term after a March 12, 2010, guilty plea to conspiring to distribute at least 500 grams of methamphetamine in the Waterloo area.
Blitsch was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade. Blitsch was sentenced to 70 months’ imprisonment. A special assessment of $100 was imposed. He must also serve a 5-year term of supervised release after the prison term and forfeit $30,000 in illegal drug proceeds. There is no parole in the federal system.
Blitsch is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Patrick J. Reinert and investigated by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program of the United States Department of Justice through a cooperative effort of the Oelwein Police Department, the Tri-County Drug Task Force, Cedar Rapids DEA Task Force, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Internal Revenue Service, and Federal Bureau of Investigation. 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; Sixth Judicial District Department of Correctional Services; and Iowa National Guard.
Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is 09-2023.
