Pleasant Hill Man Convicted of Cocaine and Methamphetamine Conspiracy

DES MOINES, IA – On February 8, 2011, Vincente Carrasco Espinosa, age 34, of Pleasant Hill, Iowa, was convicted by a jury in the United States District Court in the Southern District of Iowa of the charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine, announced United States Attorney Nicholas A. Klinefeldt. The jury also found that property used in the commission of the offense, including 3 firearms should be forfeited. Following the verdict the Honorable United States Magistrate Judge Ross A. Walters ordered Carrasco to be remanded to United States Marshal’s custody pending sentencing.

Carrasco was indicted by the federal grand jury on August 26, 2010. During the execution of a search warrant at defendant’s residence on August 5, 2010, officers seized numerous handguns. Law enforcement seized 956 grams of methamphetamine, 552 grams of cocaine, 786 grams of cutting agent including MSM horse vitamin, and $30,000 in U.S. Currency from the organization’s stash house. The evidence indicated that from August 2008 to August 2010, 23 kilograms of cocaine and 39 pounds of methamphetamine came into Des Moines for redistribution as a part of the conspiracy of which Carrasco was convicted. Evidence also indicated that Carrasco managed the distribution activities for the organization in Des Moines.

This case was prosecuted in the United States Attorney’s office for the Southern District of Iowa, and was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration–Des Moines Resident Office, the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement.