California Woman With Five Prior Felony Drug Convictions Sentenced to Twenty Years in Federal Prison for Iowa Meth Conspiracy

A woman who conspired to distribute methamphetamine was sentenced on October 23, 2023, to 240 months’ imprisonment.

Andrea Romo, 41, from Gardena, California, pled guilty on June 16, 2023, to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

Evidence at the plea and sentencing hearings showed Romo’s involvement in a conspiracy that distributed at least 1.5 kilograms of methamphetamine from December 2019 through May 2022.  Romo assisted at least seven others in the conspiracy in distributing about four pounds of methamphetamine and one pound of marijuana from California and Nevada and transporting the drugs, in a hidden compartment in a vehicle, back to Cherokee, Iowa, for further distribution. 

Sentencing was held before United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand.  Romo was sentenced to 240 months’ imprisonment and must serve a five-year term of supervised release following imprisonment.  There is no parole in the federal system.  Romo remains in the custody of the United States Marshal until she can be transported to a federal prison. 

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shawn S. Wehde and was investigated by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program of the United States Department of Justice through a cooperative effort of the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, United States Postal Inspectors, Homeland Security Investigations, Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Iowa DCI Laboratory, and Cherokee Police Department. 

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

The case file number is 22-4066.  Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.