A Marshalltown, Iowa woman who was involved in the distribution of nearly five kilograms of methamphetamine was sentenced today to ten years in federal prison.
Eva Ordaz Hernandez, age 45, from Marshalltown, Iowa, received the prison sentence after an August 2, 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 learned that Ordaz Hernandez was distributing large amounts of methamphetamine and collecting money on behalf of the organization. On one occasion, Ordaz Hernandez collected $20,000 in currency for an outstanding drug debt owed to the organization. This transaction occurred at Ordaz Hernandez’s residence in front of her minor granddaughter. On another occasion, Ordaz Hernandez’s minor son collected $5,000 in drug debt owed to Ordaz Hernandez and other members of the group.
Ordaz Hernandez was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Ordaz Hernandez was sentenced to 120 months’ imprisonment. She must also serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison. There is no parole in the federal system.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Ashley Corkery and Dillan Edwards. 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, 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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