Retired University of Iowa professor draws 25 years for drug death and child porn

A former University of Iowa music professor has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for charges of conspiracy to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine that resulted in a death and for possessing child pornography.

John Robert Muriello, 66, of Iowa City, bought drugs from a supplier in California and had 12,000 pornographic photos and 3,183 pornographic videos on his electronic devices, many of them of minor boys, according to a complaint filed in June in U.S. District Court.

He was sentenced to 25 years for the charge of conspiracy to distribute meth that resulted in death, and 20 years for the child pornography charge. The sentences were ordered to be served concurrently, or at the same time, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

The UI revoked Muriello’s status as emeritus professor of voice and opera on Sept. 20, 2022, Jeneane Beck, spokesperson for university, said in March. The university placed Muriello on leave in May 2021, and he retired July 1, 2022.

Two others have been charged and sentenced in relation to the conspiracy to distribute meth, resulting in death. Eric Johnathan Hojka, 49, of Iowa City, was convicted in May 2022 for drug conspiracy resulting in death, and Ray Bustamante, 61, of Long Beach, Calif., was convicted in March for conspiracy to distribute more than 50 grams of meth resulting in the death of a victim.

Hojka was sentenced in September to 20 years in prison, and Bustamante was sentenced July 21, the same day Muriello was sentenced, to 12 years.

Hojka, 49 called 911 to report a unconscious person, identified as “TS” in court papers, who died after being taken to a hospital. An autopsy, which found a “recent minute needle puncture mark,” found the victim had died of meth intoxication, according to court documents.

During the investigation, authorities found Hojka “regularly” used meth and had obtained it from Muriello, who got it from Bustamante, a supplier in California. The meth then went to the victim, who injected it and died, the affidavit stated.

During a search of Muriello’s house, police found the 18,580 photos and 3,183 videos of child pornography on his electronic devices. The hash values — forensic fingerprints — of the images were sent to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which found 165 identified children from its database and 1,034 that had been previously submitted to the center.

Most of the files were password-protected on Muriello’s laptop with one user account named “John Muriello” and another named “Billybigelow” — a character from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “Carousel,” according to the plea agreement.

Muriello also had Skype accounts on the laptop under his name and other names, according to his plea agreement, which filed in February. The chats recovered were associated with drug use and distribution of child pornography.

According to search warrant affidavit filed in Johnson County District Court, authorities also received information about Muriello’s illegal activities in April 2020. The university received an anonymous email from someone who was identified as a parent of a freshman and said he attended a party hosted by Muriello in his home.

Muriello provided meth and gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB) — known as the “date rape” sedative — to partygoers to have sex with them, according to the affidavit. The parent also said Muriello recorded sex acts with younger adult and teen partygoers and possessed an “extensive” child pornography collection on multiple devices in his home.

Trish Mehaffey of The Gazette contributed to this report.

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