November 20th, 2024

Cedar Rapids, Iowa – Jose Eleazar Aceves-Garcia, a 30-year-old Guatemalan national, pled guilty today in federal court to charges of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Aceves-Garcia was convicted of conspiring to distribute at least 500 grams of a mixture containing methamphetamine and 50 grams of pure methamphetamine.

In his plea agreement, Aceves-Garcia admitted to distributing approximately 400 pounds of ice methamphetamine to a co-conspirator in the Dubuque, Iowa area between January 2019 and January 2022. His fingerprints were found on two packages containing over seven pounds of ice methamphetamine that he mailed to the co-conspirator. Additionally, Aceves-Garcia distributed a kilogram of heroin to the same individual.

Sentencing will be scheduled after the preparation of a presentence report by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams. Aceves-Garcia remains in the custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, with a potential maximum sentence of life imprisonment without parole, a $10,000,000 fine, and a life term of supervised release following any imprisonment.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Devra T. Hake. The investigation was conducted by the Dubuque Drug Task Force, Dubuque County Sheriff’s Office, Dubuque Police Department, Quad City Metropolitan Enforcement Group, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Criminalistics Laboratory.