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Press Release

Sentences Entered For Final Two Defendants In Marshalltown Methamphetamine Case

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Iowa

MARSHALLTOWN, IOWA - On Friday, April 18, 2014, the last of ten defendants from Marshalltown, Iowa and elsewhere were sentenced on federal drug trafficking and money laundering charges announced United States Attorney Nicholas A. Klinefeldt. District Judge Stephanie M. Rose sentenced Jose Sanchez Adame, age 40, of Marshalltown, Iowa, to 216 months imprisonment for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and distribution of methamphetamine. Sanchez Adame was also ordered to serve a term of five years supervised release following the period of imprisonment, and to pay $200 to the Crime Victim Fund. Julian Marin Gutierrez, age 53, of San Jose, California, was sentenced to 204 months imprisonment for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, conspiracy to launder monetary instruments and two counts of money laundering. Gutierrez was sentenced to a concurrent five years imprisonment for three counts of structuring financial transactions, and was ordered to serve concurrent terms of supervised release of five and three years, following imprisonment, as well as to pay $700 to the Crime Victim Fund.

This case arose from a two-year investigation into the distribution of methamphetamine in the Marshalltown area. This organization was responsible for the distribution of large quantities of methamphetamine in and around Marshalltown from at least 2010 through 2012. Proceeds from the sale of the methamphetamine were transported in bulk cash shipments, including $134,960 seized during a traffic stop in March 2012, in Cass County, Iowa. Other drug proceeds were funneled through bank deposits made in Iowa and withdrawn in California.

The investigation culminated in the arrests of ten individuals in Marshalltown and Ankeny, Iowa on November 20, 2012. The individuals, charged in December 2012 with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, included: Jose Luis Sanchez Adame, Jose Sanchez Adame, Julian Marin Gutierrez, Antonio Cebrero Mendiola, Raymundo Sotel Calderon, Fidel Sanchez, Kyla Forbes, Shannon Fogle, James Buffington and Fernando Camacho.

After seven defendants plead guilty, Jose Sanchez Adame, Julian Marin Gutierrez and Fidel Sanchez were convicted following a jury trial in November 2013. Fidel Sanchez, age 42, of Marshalltown, was sentenced to 108 months imprisonment for conspiracy to distribute and distribution of methamphetamine and ordered to serve five years supervised release, following the period of imprisonment, and to pay $600 to the Crime Victim Fund.

The following defendants were sentenced on prior dates:

-- Kyla Forbes, age 39, of Marshalltown, was sentenced to 75 months imprisonment and ordered to serve five years and three years concurrent supervised release, after being released from prison, for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments.

-- Fernando Camacho was sentenced to 48 months imprisonment and ordered to serve a one-year term of supervised release for use of a communication facility in the commission of a drug felony.

-- Jose Luis Sanchez Adame, age 37, of Marshalltown, and Antonio Cebrero Mendiola, age 27, of Ankeny, were each sentenced to 120 months imprisonment and ordered to serve five years supervised release, after being released from prison, for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

-- Raymundo Sotel Calderon, age 40, of Marshalltown, was sentenced to 70 months imprisonment, and ordered to serve three years of supervised release, following the term of imprisonment for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

-- James Buffington, age 44, of Marshalltown, was sentenced to 92 months imprisonment followed by five years supervised release, following his term of imprisonment for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

-- Shannon Fogle, age 32, of Marshalltown, was sentenced to 60 months in prison, and ordered to serve a five-year term of supervised release, following the term of imprisonment for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

In a related case, Rogelio Guevara, Jr., age 32, of Marshalltown, was sentenced to 144 months and ordered to serve five years supervised release after pleading guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

This investigation was conducted by a multi-agency task force through the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program. The principal mission of the OCDETF Program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation's illegal drug supply. Agencies participating in this investigation included the Drug Enforcement Administration, Mid Iowa Drug Task Force (MIDTF), Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations, Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, Marshall County Sheriff’s Office, Marshalltown, Iowa, Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations, Cass County Sheriff’s Office and the Mid-Iowa Narcotics Enforcement (MINE) Task Force. This case was prosecuted by the U. S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

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Updated March 12, 2015