Three Waterloo Men Convicted of Drug Trafficking Offenses

Three Waterloo men who were distributing cocaine and crack cocaine were convicted by a jury on April 27, 2018, after a five-day trial in federal court in Cedar Rapids.

Alston Campbell, Sr., age 64, and his two sons, Alston Campbell, Jr., age 34, and William Campbell, age 43, all from Waterloo, Iowa, were convicted of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine.  Alston Campbell, Sr. was also convicted of distributing crack cocaine.  Alston Campbell, Jr. was also convicted of one count possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute.  William Campbell was also convicted of one count of distributing crack cocaine and one count of distributing cocaine.  The verdicts were returned following about six hours of jury deliberations.

The evidence at trial showed that the father and sons were working together with others to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine in the Waterloo area.  Evidence showed that both the DEA and FBI did multiple wiretaps on phones being used to communicate about the drug trafficking.  From these wiretaps, law enforcement determined that the Campbells and others were bringing pounds of cocaine into Iowa from out of state and then selling the cocaine as both powder and crack cocaine in Waterloo. 

Sentencings before United States District Court Judge Linda R. Reade will be set after a presentence reports are prepared.  Alston Campbell, Sr. was taken into custody by the United States Marshal after the verdict was returned and will remain in custody pending sentencing.  Alston Campbell, Jr. and William Campbell were previously detained and remain in the custody of the United States Marshal.  Alston Campbell, Sr. and William Campbell face a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a $20,000,000 fine, and 10 years of supervised release following any imprisonment. Alston Campbell, Jr. 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 of supervised release following any imprisonment.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Emily K. Nydle and Rich Murphy and was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, the Tri-County Drug Enforcement Task Force, the Waterloo Police Department, the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office, the Cedar Falls Police Department, the Cedar Rapids Police Department, the Iowa City Police Department, the Linn County Sheriff’s Office, and the Iowa State Patrol. 

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

The case file number is 17-cr-2045.

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