Cedar Rapids Man Pleads Guilty to Methamphetamine-Related Crime

Cleveland Stephens, also known as “Schmitty,” age 63, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, pled guilty today in federal court in Cedar Rapids to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

In a plea agreement, Stephens admitted that between August 2022 and June 2024, in the Northern District of Iowa, he agreed with another person to distribute at least 500 grams of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine, and at least 50 grams of actual (pure) methamphetamine.   

Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams will be set after a presentence report is prepared.  Stephens remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing.  Stephens faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, a $250,000 fine, and a lifetime term of supervised release following any imprisonment.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Devra T. Hake and Dillan Edwards and investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Cedar Rapids Police Department, the Linn County Sheriff’s Office, and the Benton County Sheriff’s Office.  This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.  Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

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

The case file number is 24-CR-92.

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