Another Member of Waterloo Meth Conspiracy Pleads Guilty

A woman involved in laundering money for a large-scale Waterloo methamphetamine conspiracy pled guilty March 9, 2010, in federal court in Cedar Rapids.

Yesenia Arbelaez, 25, from Avondale, Arizona, was convicted of a money laundering conspiracy.

At the plea hearing, Arbelaez admitted she was involved in laundering more than $200,000 in drug money through her bank account. She is the eighth defendant to plead guilty to a charge involving the Waterloo methamphetamine conspiracy that lasted from January 2005, through about August 21, 2009.

Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Arbelaez remains free on bond previously set pending sentencing. Arbelaez faces a sentence of not more than 20 years’ imprisonment, a $500,000 fine or twice the value of the monetary instrument or funds involved, a $100 special assessment, and up to three years of supervised release following any imprisonment.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Patrick J. Reinert 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 Oelwein Police Department, the Tri-County Drug Task Force, Cedar Rapids DEA Task Force, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Internal Revenue Service, and Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Tri-County Drug Task Force is composed of the Waterloo Police Department, Cedar Falls Police Department, Waverly Police Department, Bremer County Sheriff’s Office, Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office, LaPorte City Police Department, Evansdale Police Department, Hudson Police Department, and Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Cedar Rapids Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Task Force consists of the DEA; Linn County Sheriff's Office; Cedar Rapids Police Department; Marion Police Department; Iowa City Police Department; Clinton Police Department; Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; Sixth Judicial District Department of Correctional Services; and Iowa National Guard.

Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is 09-2023.