U.S. Department
of Justice
Press Release
Dickinson County Woman Pleads Guilty to Meth Conspiracy
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Iowa
Found with another with three pounds of meth leaving residence where 20 pounds of meth recently transported from California was seized
A Dickinson County woman who conspired to distribute meth pled guilty September 14, 2021, in federal court in Sioux City. Meghan Renken, 29, from Spirit Lake, Iowa, was convicted of conspiring to distribute methamphetamine.
At the plea hearing, Renken admitted her involvement in a conspiracy that distributed more than 1500 grams of pure methamphetamine from July 2018 and continuing to on or about March 2020 in the Dickinson County, Iowa area. On March 17, 2020, law enforcement executed a search warrant at a co-conspirators residence and seized 20 pounds of methamphetamine from the residence. During the course of the execution of the search warrant, law enforcement stopped Renken and another co-conspirator leaving the residence in a vehicle. Upon a search of the vehicle, law enforcement seized 3 pounds of pure meth that Renken and her co-conspirator admitted they had plans to distribute to other persons.
Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Renken was taken into custody by the United States Marshal after the guilty plea and will remain in custody pending sentencing. Renken faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a $10,000,000 fine, and 5 years up to life of supervised release following any imprisonment.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shawn S. Wehde and investigated by 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; and the Woodbury County Attorney’s Office, as well as the Iowa State Patrol.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 20-4050. Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.
Updated September 16, 2021
Topic
Drug Trafficking
Component