Cedar Rapids Man Who Transported Over 100 Pounds of Methamphetamine from California to Iowa Pleads Guilty

A man who hauled loads of 30 to 60 pounds of methamphetamine from California to Iowa pled guilty today in federal court in Cedar Rapids.

Albert Henry Bailey, age 53, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.

At the plea hearing, Bailey admitted he conspired with others to distribute methamphetamine in Iowa.  Evidence at a prior hearing 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.

Sentencing before United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams will be set after a presentence report is prepared.  Bailey was taken into custody by the United States Marshal after the guilty plea and will remain in custody pending sentencing.  Bailey faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a $10,000,000 fine, and a lifetime of supervised release following any imprisonment.

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 is being 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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