(Sioux City)– Two women from California have pled guilty to federal drug charges in a case with ties to northwest Iowa. The U.S. Attorney’s Office says 61-year-old Lauretta Payce of Fontana, California and 41-year-old Andrea Romo of Gardena, California entered the plea to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
The two admitted at plea hearings to distributing at least 1.5 kilograms of meth from December 2019 through May 2022 and that they helped six others in the conspiracy by distributing at about four pounds of methamphetamine and one pound of marijuana from California and Nevada. Authorities say the drugs were in a hidden compartment of a vehicle as it was being driven to Cherokee.
Sentencing for both women will be scheduled once a pre-sentence report is completed. Each faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, along with a $10 million fine and at least five years of probation following any imprisonment.
