A Chicago man who conspired to distribute crack cocaine pled guilty October 29, 2012, in federal court in Sioux City.

Christopher Ward-Malone, 23, from Chicago, Illinois, was convicted of conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine.

At the plea hearing, Ward-Malone admitted to conspiring to distribute more than 280 grams of crack cocaine from about 2010 through June 2012. Ward-Malone would obtain crack cocaine from sources in Sioux City, Iowa, and Omaha, Nebraska, and then distribute the crack cocaine to individuals in Sioux City, Iowa.

Sentencing before United States District Court Judge Mark W. Bennett will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Ward-Malone remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing. Ward-Malone faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a $10,000,000 fine, a special assessment of $100, and at least five years years of supervised release following any imprisonment.

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 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 12-4068.

 

 

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