Sioux Center Meth Dealer Lopez-Granillo Gets 6+ Years

SIOUX CITY, IA – Sergio Lopez-Granillo, a 25-year-old from Sioux Center, Iowa, is headed to federal prison after admitting his central role in a multi-state methamphetamine distribution network. Lopez-Granillo received a 61-month sentence – over six years – from Chief United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand on May 2, 2017, following a guilty plea entered on January 26, 2017, to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

The investigation, a collaborative effort under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program, revealed that Lopez-Granillo wasn’t just a user; he was a key link in a pipeline funneling substantial quantities of the drug between Minnesota and Iowa. From 2015 through September 2016, Lopez-Granillo repeatedly purchased between one and two ounces of methamphetamine at a time, amassing nearly 25 pounds of the drug from Rogelio Garcia-Jimenez in Worthington, Minnesota.

According to court documents, Lopez-Granillo didn’t keep the drugs for himself. He redistributed the methamphetamine within Iowa, profiting from the addiction of others. Disturbingly, he even admitted to supplying the drug to an individual actively cooperating with law enforcement, demonstrating a blatant disregard for the law and a willingness to continue criminal activity even while under scrutiny.

The sheer volume of methamphetamine involved – at least 1,500 grams of pure meth – underscores the scale of this operation and the damage it inflicted on communities across Iowa and Minnesota. The sentence reflects the seriousness of the crime and the federal government’s commitment to dismantling drug trafficking organizations. In addition to the 61-month prison term, Lopez-Granillo was ordered to pay a $300 special assessment and will serve a two-year term of supervised release upon his eventual release from prison.

Currently, Lopez-Granillo is in the custody of the United States Marshals Service awaiting transfer to a designated federal correctional facility. The case was spearheaded by Assistant United States Attorney Shawn S. Wehde, with crucial investigative support from the Drug Enforcement Administration, Iowa Department of Narcotics Enforcement, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, Buffalo Ridge Task Force, and the Internal Revenue Service.

Those seeking further details can access court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl, referencing case file number 17-4084. Updates on this and other cases can be found on Twitter at @USAO_NDIA. Grimy Times will continue to follow this case and report on the ongoing fight against drug trafficking in the Midwest.