Meth-Fueled Mayhem: Denver Woman Sentenced to 8 Years for Meth & Firearms Possession

Amy Cruz, a 37-year-old woman from Denver, Colorado, has been sentenced to 8 years in federal prison for possessing a pound of methamphetamine and 150 pounds of marijuana.

Cruz received the prison term after pleading guilty on October 13, 2022, to Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine. The sentence was handed down by United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand in Sioux City, Iowa, on May 1, 2024.

The evidence in the case revealed that Cruz and a co-defendant committed several offenses in Colorado before traveling cross-country to deliver drugs to Minnesota. Locally, the duo stole a vehicle from a car dealership in Sioux City, Iowa, and led law enforcement on a high-speed pursuit that reached speeds exceeding 100mph.

During the pursuit, Cruz and the co-defendant began discarding items from the stolen vehicle before switching to a second stolen vehicle. The pursuit ended when they crashed into an unoccupied car in Le Mars, Iowa. Several totes were found along Cruz’s path, and some in the stolen vehicles, which contained stolen marijuana from a Colorado dispensary, approximately one pound of methamphetamine, three firearms, and numerous other items that had been reported stolen.

Cruz was sentenced to 96 months’ imprisonment, which is equivalent to 8 years. She must also serve a 4-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system. Cruz is currently being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until she can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was investigated by the Tri-State Drug Task Force, a multi-agency task force based in Sioux City, Iowa. The task force consists of law enforcement personnel from the Drug Enforcement Administration, Sioux City, Iowa, Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations, Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office, South Sioux City, Nebraska, Police Department, Nebraska State Patrol, Iowa National Guard, Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, United States Marshals Service, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, and Woodbury County Attorney’s Office.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Patrick T. Greenwood and Kraig R. Hamit. Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is 22-4045.