Courier who Transported Hundreds of Pounds of Ice Methamphetamine from California to Cedar Rapids Sentenced to Federal Prison

A man who drove loads of ice methamphetamine from California to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for a drug trafficking organization was sentenced today to more than seven years in federal prison.

Albert Henry Bailey, age 53, from Cedar Rapids, received the prison term after a November 8, 2022 guilty plea to one count of conspiring to distribute methamphetamine.

Evidence at prior hearings showed that during a wiretap investigation conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration in Cedar Rapids in late 2021 and early 2022, Bailey was discovered to be a driver for a group of individuals who were purchasing ice methamphetamine in California and selling it in eastern Iowa.  Bailey traveled to California and then drove between 30 and 60 pounds of methamphetamine back to Iowa, where other individuals would sell it.  In February 2022, intercepted communications over the wiretap indicated that Bailey would be transporting methamphetamine from California to Iowa.  Investigators tracked Bailey’s vehicle and stopped it in York County, Nebraska.  During a search of the vehicle, investigators located and seized approximately 60 pounds of ice methamphetamine.

Bailey was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams.  Bailey was sentenced to 88 months’ imprisonment.  He must also serve a 5-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Bailey is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The 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 DEA Task Force in Cedar Rapids and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  The DEA Task Force in Cedar Rapids consists of the DEA; the Linn County Sheriff's Office; the Cedar Rapids Police Department; the Marion Police Department; and the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dan Chatham.

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

The case file number is 22‑CR‑87‑CJW‑MAR.

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