20 People Charged in Methamphetamine and Money Laundering Conspiracies

Michael Vincent Woodbury Bent, 37, Dennis Sharkey II, 50, Adam Fullbright, 37, Chris Nauman, 30, John Husemann, 51 all of Dubuque, Iowa, Heather Harris, 37, Zach Miller, 27, and Jacob Burton, 35, all of Waterloo, Iowa, and Edward Behrens, 50, of Benton, Wisconsin, have been charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.  Bent and Fullbright have been charged with an additional count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.­ 

Chad Ellis Weyland, 38, Deis Ray, 40, Jay Seehase, 37, and Kevin Hemmer,41, all of Waterloo, Iowa, have been charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.  Weyland has been charged with an additional count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Aldo Omar Lopez Martinez, 22, Adan Sanchez-Chavez, a/k/a Osbaldo Nieto Arreola, a/k/a Osbaldo Martinez Arreola, 25, Roque Rodriguez Arellano, 32, Susana Martinez Arreola, 29, and Michael Corwin, 30, all of Marshalltown, Iowa, and Alejandro Hernandez, 38, and Alfredo Morales, 25, of Des Moines, Iowa, have been charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.  Lopez Martinez, Sanchez-Chavez, and Martinez Arreola have been charged with an additional count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The charges are contained in three Indictments filed on May 26, 2016, in United States District Court in Cedar Rapids. 

The Indictments allege that, starting as early as the summer of 2013, and continuing until May 2016, the defendants conspired with each other and persons known and unknown to the grand jury to distribute methamphetamine.

If convicted, unless noted below, these individuals face a possible maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment, a $1,000,000 fine, $100 in special assessments, and three years of supervised release following any imprisonment.­ Weyland, Lopez Martinez, Sanchez-Chavez, Ray, Seehase, Bent, and Sharkey face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a $10,000,000 fine, $100 in special assessments, and five years of supervised release following any imprisonment.­

Weyland, Fullbright, Lopez Martinez, Sanchez-Chavez, Rodriguez Arellano, Martinez Arreola, Hernandez, Morales, Bent, Sharkey, and Behrens appeared on June 3, 2016, in federal court in Cedar Rapids and all were held without bond, except for Rodriguez Arellano and Fullbright.  Their next appearance for trial is set for July 18, 2016.

Ray, Hemmer, Harris, and Burton appeared on May 31, 2016.  Ray and Burton were held without bond.  Harris and Hemmer were released on bond.  Their next appearance for trial is set for July 18, 2016.  Nauman and Husemann appeared on June 2, 2016.  Husemann was released on bond and Nauman was held without bond.  Their next appearance for trial is set for July 18, 2016. 

Corwin’s, Seehase’s, and Miller’s, first appearance in federal court in Cedar Rapids for an arraignment will be set for a future date.

Weyland, Sharkey, Bent, Behrens, Lopez Martinez, Sanchez-Chavez, Rodriguez Arellano, Martinez Arreola, Morales, and Hernandez were previously arrested via a federal criminal complaint which was executed simultaneously with the execution of 29 federal search warrants across Iowa and in Wisconsin.   

As with any criminal case, a charge is merely an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lisa C. Williams and was investigated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program of the United States Department of Justice through a cooperative effort of Federal Bureau of Investigation, Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, Tri-County Drug Enforcement Task Force (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), Mid Iowa Drug Task Force (Marshalltown Police Department; Marshall County Sheriff’s Office; Tama County), and Dubuque Drug Task Force (Dubuque Police Department; Dubuque County Sheriff’s Office).

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. 

The case file numbers are 16-cr-1021, 16-cr-2027, and 16-cr-2028.

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