A Waterloo woman has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for her role in a marijuana distribution conspiracy that stretched from California to Iowa. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa, 50-year-old Nicole Ann Fordyce was sentenced Tuesday after previously pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute marijuana.
Federal prosecutors say that from August 2022 through January 2024, Fordyce received packages of marijuana in the mail from her son, Jonathan Reins, who was living in California. She then redistributed the drugs to others in the Waterloo area. Investigators also found she deposited nearly $191,896 in drug proceeds into a bank account tied to the conspiracy.
U.S. District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams sentenced Fordyce to 60 months in prison, followed by four years of supervised release. She will remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service until she is transferred to a federal prison. There is no parole in the federal system.
The case was investigated by multiple agencies, including the Tri-County Drug Enforcement Task Force, Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, Butler County Sheriff’s Office, Denver Police Department in Iowa, Fullerton Police Department in California, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
A full press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office can be found below;
