United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Iowa

10/15/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/15/2021 09:42

Possessing Over a Kilogram of Meth and Guns Leads to More Than Two Decades in Federal Prison

Taylor James Kruckenberg, age 29, from Waterloo, Iowa, received the prison term after an April 15, 2021 guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

In a plea agreement, Kruckenberg admitted that in February 2020, law enforcement officers searched Kruckenberg's car and recovered methamphetamine, $7,000, and a handgun. On the same date, officers recovered over 1,600 grams of methamphetamine and a loaded shotgun from his residence. At sentencing, the court found that Kruckenberg possessed the firearms in connection with his drug trafficking. Kruckenberg had previous felony convictions for possession of a firearm as a felon, trafficking in stolen firearms, and possession of marijuana with intent to deliver.

Kruckenberg was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Kruckenberg was sentenced to 277 months' imprisonment. He must also serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). PSN is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice's violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

Kruckenberg is being held in the United States Marshal's custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Alex Geocaris and Assistant United States Attorney Emily K. Nydle and investigated by the Waterloo Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Tri-County Drug Taskforce, the Black Hawk County Sheriff's Office, and the Cedar Falls Police Department.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

The case file number is 20-cr-2038.

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