A jury convicted Cedar Rapids man for meth trafficking, money laundering

Cedar Rapids — A Cedar Rapids man who conspired with eight others to distribute methamphetamine and commit money laundering was convicted by a jury Thursday following a four-day federal trial.

The jury, after about an hour of deliberations, found Albert McReynolds, 35, guilty of conspiracy to distribute meth, conspiracy to commit money laundering and engaging in a monetary transaction in property derived from a specified unlawful activity.

According to trial evidence, McReynolds was trafficking meth between September 2020 and November 2021, along with eight others who were indicted last year. He had a California supplier who sent packages of meth through the mail to several addresses in Cedar Rapids. McReynolds would send the packages to others’ addresses to avoid having the drugs delivered directly to him, according to testimony.

Investigators intercepted and searched three packages that were mailed from California to addresses associated with McReynolds.

Investigators found multiple pounds of meth in those packages. In total, investigators identified 46 packages mailed from California to the Cedar Rapids area. These 46 packages had a combined total mailing weight of over 700 pounds, according to testimony.

During this same time frame, McReynolds also conspired with the others to commit money laundering. McReynolds would vacuum-seal the money that he made from selling meth, and then he and the others would send packages containing cash through the mail to multiple different addresses associated with his drug source in California.

McReynolds and others would place fake names and addresses on the return labels so law enforcement wouldn’t be able to connect him and his co-conspirators to those packages, according to testimony.

An example of this is when McReynolds mailed a package on July 28, 2021, from Cedar Rapids to an address associated with his source in California. Investigators intercepted and searched this package and found $56,470 in cash.

U.S. District Judge C.J. Williams will set sentencing after a presentence report is prepared. McReynolds will remain in jail pending sentencing.

He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison and possibly up to life. He also could be ordered to pay a fine and serve a lifetime of supervised release following his prison term.

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