A Waterloo, Iowa, woman who was involved in the importation and distribution of over 4,000 grams of methamphetamine was sentenced today to ten years in federal prison.
Breanna Garcia, age 34, from Waterloo, Iowa, received the prison sentence after a May 3, 2021 guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
Evidence at the plea and sentencing hearings showed that in 2018, investigators began investigating a large-scale drug trafficking organization operating between Mexico and Iowa. As part of the investigation, investigators conducted a wiretap investigation of a phone utilized by Travis Werkmeister, Garcia’s boyfriend. Investigators intercepted thousands of calls and text messages between Werkmeister and other members of the drug-distribution organization, including Garcia. Werkmeister worked with Mario Hernandez, the leader of the organization who was based out of Mexico, to import kilos of methamphetamine with the purpose that the methamphetamine be redistributed in Iowa. Garcia would collect money on behalf of Werkmeister and meet with other members of the organization on behalf of Werkmeister. Garcia has a lengthy criminal history dating back to 2006. Since that time, she has acquired 21 criminal convictions.
Garcia was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Garcia was sentenced to 120 months’ imprisonment. She must also serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term and pay a $100 special assessment fee. There is no parole in the federal system.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ashley Corkery. This case 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 the Mid-Iowa Task Force (Marshall County Sheriff’s Office, Tama County Sheriff’s Office, Marshalltown Police Department), Iowa National Guard and Counter Drug Program, Tri-County Task Force (Cedar Falls Police Department, Waterloo Police Department, Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office), the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 20-CR-2034.
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