(Sioux City)– A northwest Iowa man will serve time in federal prison after pleading guilty to methamphetamine and immigration offenses.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office says 29-year-old Jose Duenas-Topete of Hawarden was sentenced March 23rd to 11 ½ years in prison after having pled guilty in October, 2022 to one count each of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, distributing meth, and illegal re-entry.
Court documents say Topete was involved in a conspiracy from January, 2022 to April 2nd, 2022, that distributed at least 45 kilograms of methamphetamine in the Sioux City area, and that agents observed him receiving 10 pounds of the drug in exchange for an initial payment of $5,000 from a transporter from Arkansas, sent at his request by sources based in Mexico. Topete then transferred the majority of the meth to an informant working with agents. Those agents then conducted traffic stops on the vehicles involved and seized the 10 pounds of meth and $5,000 in buy money supplied by the agents. Topete later admitted he had previously received four shipments of 5-6 pounds each of methamphetamine from sources in Mexico for distribution in the Sioux City area.
Evidence also showed Topete is a native and citizen of Mexico and was in the U.S illegally after having been deported six times previously.
