Lincoln Woman Convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine

United States Attorney Deborah R. Gilg announced that Regina Lynn Leonard, 47, of Lincoln, Nebraska, was convicted by a federal jury on March 8, 2012 of conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine after a three-day trial.

Leonard was arrested on the conspiracy charge in August 2010. She is scheduled for sentencing on June 1, 2012. She faces a sentence of not less than 10 years but no more than life imprisonment and a fine of up to $4,000,000.

Evidence presented at trial indicated that between June 2005 and May 2010, Leonard was a member of a group of persons who were buying and selling methamphetamine in the Lincoln area. Witnesses testified that Leonard bought, sold, and used methamphetamine with a number of persons at her Lincoln residence. In addition to cash sales, witnesses testified that Leonard accepted, and sometimes requested, stolen merchandise in return for methamphetamine. Leonard then passed some of these items along to her supplier in return for methamphetamine. In July 2007, a Lancaster County Sheriff’s Department undercover officer contacted Leonard, and Leonard made an unsuccessful attempt to obtain methamphetamine for the officer. Leonard was found in possession of approximately one-eighth an ounce of methamphetamine by a Lincoln Police officer on March 29, 2010.

The matter was investigated by the Lincoln/Lancaster County Narcotics Task Force, which includes officers of the Lincoln Police Department, the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Police Department.