Two sioux city men plead guilty to crack conspiracy
Contact: Peter Deegan
Two Sioux City men who conspired to distribute crack cocaine pled guilty on January 31, 2011, in federal court in Sioux City.
Kevin Moore, 32, and Sidney Charles, 55, both from Sioux City, Iowa, were convicted of conspiring to distribute crack cocaine. Moore was also convicted of one count of distributing and aiding and abetting another in distributing crack cocaine within 1000 feet of a public school or playground. Charles was also convicted of two counts of distributing and aiding and abetting another in distributing crack cocaine within 1,000 feet of a public school or playground and two counts of possessing crack cocaine with intent to distribute. Moore was previously convicted of conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine in the United States District Court for Nebraska on September 7, 2001, and possession of a deadly weapon by a felon in the Douglas County District Court of Nebraska on March 24, 1998. Charles was previously convicted of possession with intent to deliver cocaine in 1996 and in 2007 of going armed with intent to cause serious injury, a felony, both in the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County.
At the plea hearings, Moore and Charles admitted they conspired to distribute crack cocaine in Sioux City from January 2010 through about August 2010. During the conspiracy, Moore and Charles and their co-conspirators acquired multiple ounces of crack cocaine from sources in Omaha, Nebraska, for distribution to customers in Sioux City. Moore admitted he distributed crack cocaine in May 2010 to an individual cooperating with law enforcement. Charles admitted he distributed crack cocaine in May and April 2010 to an individual cooperating with law enforcement. Charles also admitted he possessed crack cocaine on two occasions with the intent to distribute the crack cocaine to others. Several of the drug distributions occurred within 1,000 feet of protected locations, including Smith and Riverside Elementary Schools and Sanford Park.
Sentencings before United States District Court Judge Mark W. Bennett will be set after presentence reports are prepared. Moore and Charles both remain in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing.
On the conspiracy conviction, both men face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, an $8,000,000 fine, a special assessment of $100, and 8 years up to life of supervised release following any imprisonment. On each of the distribution and possession convictions, they face a mandatory minimum sentence of 1 year imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of 60 years’ imprisonment, a $4,000,000 fine, a special assessment of $100, and 6 years up to life of supervised release following any imprisonment. On the second possession conviction, Charles faces a possible maximum sentence of 30 years’ imprisonment, a $2,000,000 fine, a $100 special assessment, and a term of supervised release of 6 years up to life.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shawn S. Wehde and was investigated by the Tri-State Drug Task Force based in Sioux City, Iowa, that consists of law enforcement personnel from the Drug Enforcement Administration; Sioux City, Iowa, Police Department; Homeland Security Investigations; Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office; South Sioux City, Nebraska, Police Department; Nebraska State Patrol; Iowa National Guard; Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement; United States Marshals Service; South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation; and the Woodbury County Attorney’s Office.
Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is 10-4083.
