Date: May 31, 2024 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov A man who conspired with others to distribute methamphetamine and launder proceeds from trafficking drugs was sentenced May 30 to 30 years in federal prison. Albert McReynolds from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after a November 2, 2023, jury verdict finding him guilty of one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, and one count of engaging in a monetary transaction involving property derived from unlawful activity. The evidence at trial showed that McReynolds was a methamphetamine dealer in the Cedar Rapids area. Between September 2020 and November 2021, McReynolds worked with others to distribute methamphetamine. The evidence at trial showed that McReynolds and one of his coconspirators, Calvin Williams, traveled to California to meet with another person to get methamphetamine. Following the meeting, the source of supply in California sent packages containing methamphetamine through the United States Postal Service to several addresses in Cedar Rapids. McReynolds had the packages sent to other individuals’ addresses to avoid having the methamphetamine delivered directly to him. Investigators intercepted and searched three packages that were mailed from California to addresses associated with McReynolds in Cedar Rapids. In each of those packages, investigators located multiple pounds of methamphetamine. In total, investigators identified 46 packages mailed from California to the Cedar Rapids area between September 2020 and November 2021 that all shared similar characteristics to the packages that investigators intercepted and searched. These 46 packages had a combined total mailing weight of over 700 pounds. The evidence at trial showed that, between October 2020 and November 2021, McReynolds also conspired with others to commit money laundering. McReynolds and others distributed the methamphetamine McReynolds received from California. McReynolds vacuum-sealed the money that he made from selling methamphetamine, and McReynolds and Williams sent packages containing cash through the United States Postal Service to multiple different addresses associated with the methamphetamine source in California. McReynolds and Williams placed fake names and addresses on the return labels of the packages containing the cash so law enforcement would not be able to link McReynolds and others to those packages. On July 28, 2021, McReynolds mailed a package from Cedar Rapids to an address associated with his source in California. Investigators intercepted and searched that package and located $56,470 in cash. McReynolds was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams. McReynolds was sentenced to 360 months’ imprisonment. He must also serve a ten-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system. McReynolds is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Adam J. Vander Stoep and Shawn S. Wehde and was investigated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program of the United States Department of Justice through a cooperative effort of the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS CI), and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Task Force. The DEA Task Force consists of the DEA, the Linn County Sheriff's Office, the Cedar Rapids Police Department, the Marion Police Department, and the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement. CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a more than a 90 percent federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 12 attaché posts abroad.
