A methamphetamine lab fire in a Dubuque, Iowa home has led to the third person being sentenced to federal prison. Dawn Richey, 36, from Dubuque, Iowa, received a prison term of 70 months after a December 7, 2012 guilty plea to aiding and abetting the attempted manufacture of methamphetamine near a school.
Richey’s guilty plea and sentencing revealed that she allowed Julie Uhrig, also of Dubuque, to manufacture methamphetamine in the basement of Richey’s residence on Windsor Avenue in Dubuque on February 15, 2012. Richey admitted that she assisted Uhrig in the manufacturing process, which caused a fire to erupt in the residence. Richey’s minor child was present in the residence at the time, and the residence was located within 1,000 feet of Audubon Elementary School.
Richey was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade. In addition to the 70 months’ imprisonment, a special assessment of $100 was imposed, and she was ordered to make $142,062.41 in restitution to the owner of the Windsor residence that she had been renting. She must also serve a six-year term of supervised release after the prison term.
Richey is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until she can be transported to a federal prison. Two other individuals have also been sent to federal prison in connection with the February 15, 2012 incident. Uhrig pled guilty on September 11, 2012 to the attempted manufacture of methamphetamine near a school and was sentenced on January 3, 2013 to 136 months’ imprisonment. Nickolas Clark, Richey’s fiancé at the time of the incident, pled guilty on September 24, 2012 to misprision of a felony and was sentenced on January 16, 2013 to 33 months’ imprisonment.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Justin Lightfoot and investigated by the Dubuque Drug Task Force, the Dubuque Police Department, and the Dubuque Fire Department. Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number for Richey is CR 12-1021. Uhrig’s case file number is CR 12-1014, and Clark’s case file number is CR 12-1019.
The sentencing of Richey marks the end of a long and complex case that involved the manufacture of methamphetamine in a residential area. The incident highlights the dangers of methamphetamine production and the importance of law enforcement efforts to combat this type of crime. The fact that Richey’s minor child was present in the residence at the time of the fire underscores the risks that individuals involved in this type of activity pose to themselves and those around them.
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Key Facts
- State: Iowa
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking
- Source: Official Source ↗
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