WATERLOO, Iowa - One of two men charged with selling pounds of crack cocaine in Waterloo and Cedar Falls has been sentenced to prison.
Judge Linda Reade sentenced Mark Lamont Hopper, 31, of Waterloo to 11 years and eight months for a charge of conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine following a prior drug conviction.
He also was ordered to serve 10 years of supervised release following his prison time and pay a $100 special assessment.
His alleged accomplice, 27-year-old Robert Maurice Dale of Cedar Falls, is scheduled to be sentenced later this month.
Authorities said the two bought purchased powder cocaine from Mexico, cooked it into crack cocaine to sell and sold it in eastern Iowa.
At the time of the conspiracy, Hopper had been convicted in Black Hawk County of possessing a controlled substance with intent to distribute. In 2002, Hopper was acquitted in federal court of similar drug charges.
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Officers with the Tri-County Drug Enforcement Task Force seized 4.7 pounds of crack cocaine and two handguns during searches of their home in September 2010.
Authorities found $35,000 in cash in Hopper's storage unit in Cedar Falls and $1,050 in cash in a Newton Street home used to store and process crack cocaine, court records state.
The government is seeking forfeiture of the cash, firearms and other property seized during the investigation.
Another person charged in the investigation, Lucio Andazola-Fimbres, 39, also known as Edwin Manuel Cotto-Garcia, of Milo, Mo., is awaiting sentencing. He allegedly transported cocaine from Colorado to different places in Iowa on a number of occasions, court records state.