Colorado Woman Sent to Federal Prison for Possessing Meth & Firearms

Press Release

Led law enforcement on high-speed chase in two stolen vehicles ending in a crash

A woman who possessed a pound of methamphetamine and 150 pounds of marijuana was sentenced on May 1, 2024, to 8 years in federal prison.

Amy Cruz age 37, from Denver, Colorado, received the prison term after an October 13, 2022, guilty plea to Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine.

Evidence in the case showed that on April 27, 2022, Cruz and a co-defendant committed several offenses in Colorado before traveling cross country to deliver drugs to Minnesota. Locally, Cruz and a co-defendant stole a vehicle from a car dealership in Sioux City, Iowa, and led law enforcement on a high-speed pursuit with speeds exceeding 100mph. During the pursuit, Cruz and the co-defendant began discarding items from the stolen vehicle before switching to a second stolen vehicle. The pursuit ended when they crashed into an unoccupied car in Le Mars, Iowa. The two were transported to the hospital with varying degrees of injury. Several totes were found Cruz's path, and some in the stolen vehicles, which contained stolen marijuana from a Colorado dispensary, approximately one pound of methamphetamine, three firearms, and numerous other items that had been reported stolen.

Cruz was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand. Cruz was sentenced to 96 months' imprisonment. She must also serve a 4-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

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

The case was investigated by Tri-State Drug Task Force based in Sioux City, Iowa, that consists of law enforcement personnel from the Drug Enforcement Administration; Sioux City, Iowa, Police Department; Homeland Security Investigations; Woodbury County Sheriff's Office; South Sioux City, Nebraska, Police Department; Nebraska State Patrol; Iowa National Guard; Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement; United States Marshals Service; South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation; and Woodbury County Attorney's Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Patrick T. Greenwood and Kraig R. Hamit.

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

The case file number is 22-4045.

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Updated May 2, 2024