A man who set up a heroin and fentanyl distribution deal was convicted by a jury on January 27, 2022, after a four-day trial in federal court in Cedar Rapids.
Derrick Darryl Trawick, age 39, from Chicago, Illinois, was convicted of one count of aiding and abetting the distribution of heroin and fentanyl. The jury found that the crime occurred near a playground, but did not find that the use of the drugs resulted in serious bodily injury to the customer. The verdict was returned after about three hours of jury deliberations.
The evidence at trial showed that Trawick was a heroin dealer in Dubuque who was nicknamed “Worm” and “KG.” During the early morning hours of May 31, 2019, two of his heroin customers contacted him to purchase a $40 bag of heroin. Trawick and another man drove to meet the customers and then directed them back to Trawick’s residence on Walnut Street, which was around the corner from the playground at Jefferson Park. Trawick and the other man then returned to Trawick’s residence and went inside. A short time later, the other man exited the residence, walked to the customers’ car, and sold them the purported heroin, which actually contained both heroin and fentanyl. The customers then drove to a nearby motel and used the heroin and fentanyl. One of those customers suffered an overdose during which she lost consciousness and stopped breathing for several minutes. She regained consciousness after being given Narcan by her companions and chest compressions by a first responder.
Sentencing before United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Trawick remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing. Trawick faces a mandatory minimum sentence of one year of imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of 40 years’ imprisonment, a $2,000,000 fine, and a lifetime of supervised release following any imprisonment.
The case was investigated by the Dubuque Drug Task Force and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dan Chatham and Special Assistant United States Attorney Jason Norwood.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 21-CR-1016-CJW.
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