Manuel Espinoza-Heather Jean Reekr, Methamphetamine Trafficking, IA

Council Bluffs, Iowa — A narcotics ring stretching from Southern California to the heart of the Midwest collapsed in federal court this week as two key players were handed decades behind bars for their role in flooding the Omaha-Council Bluffs metro area with high-purity methamphetamine. The operation, which ran for nearly a year, moved at least 4.5 kilograms of the drug across state lines, fueling addiction and violence in communities unprepared for the onslaught.

Manuel Espinoza-Heather Jean Reekr, 33, of Pico Rivera, California, was sentenced on December 12, 2016, by Senior U.S. District Judge James E. Gritzner to 240 months in prison for Conspiring to Distribute Methamphetamine. He received an additional 120 months for being a Prohibited Person in Possession of a Firearm — sentences to run concurrently. Reekr will also serve five years of supervised release upon completion of his prison term.

Jose Luis Tizoc, 23, of San Diego, California, was sentenced to 300 months in federal prison for the same conspiracy charge and will serve five years of supervised release. Both men were convicted by a federal jury on June 27, 2016, found guilty on all counts, including conspiracy and firearm possession by prohibited individuals, after a trial that peeled back the layers of a tightly run drug network.

The investigation, led by the FBI’s Greater Omaha Safe Streets Task Force and the Southwest Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force, spanned from November 2014 to September 2015. It dismantled a multi-player distribution cell that used encrypted communications and cash couriers to avoid detection. Authorities described the network as a well-oiled machine, moving bulk meth from California suppliers to mid-level distributors across Iowa.

Other co-conspirators already sentenced include Salvador Nunez Trejo (120 months), Jessica Moreno (35 months), Jaime Castillo Gomez (168 months), Kristopher Hatch (151 months), Jane Song (60 months), Grant M. Carman (120 months), and Greg M. Price (120 months). Each will serve five years of supervised release, except Moreno, who will serve three.

U.S. Attorney Kevin E. VanderSchel, who prosecuted the case through the Southern District of Iowa, emphasized that federal authorities will continue targeting transnational drug pipelines. ‘These sentences send a clear message: Iowa is not a safe corridor for drug traffickers,’ VanderSchel said. Media inquiries directed to Rachel Scherle at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, (515) 473-9300 or Rachel.Scherle@usdoj.gov.’