U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney
Southern District of Iowa
U.S. Courthouse Annex, Suite 286 515 / 284-6283
110 East Court Avenue
. Des Moines, Iowa 50309-2053 FAX 515 / 284-6288


MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT:
Mike Bladel Law Enforcement Coordinator
http://omaha.fbi.gov

November 20, 2007
MELVIN PARRA-ACOSTA SENTENCED TO ELEVEN YEARS FOR
DISTRIBUTING METHAMPHETAMINE

Des Moines, IA- On November 16, 2007, MELVIN PARRA-ACOSTA, age 40, a citizen of Mexico, was sentenced to 135 months imprisonment for Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine in
western Iowa, announced United States Attorney Matthew G. Whitaker. Senior United States District
Judge Ronald E. Longstaff also ordered Parra-Acosta to serve a five year term of supervised release
following incarceration and ordered him to pay an assessment of $100 to the Crime Victim Fund.
On March 30, 2007, Parra-Acosta entered a guilty plea to conspiring to distributing
methamphetamine in western Iowa between January 2006 and July 2006. Parra-Acosta is one of
fourteen people involved in the network that distributed methamphetamine received from Mexico,
through Omaha, and into western Iowa.
Previously sentenced in this case are the following individuals: Angela Wise was sentenced to
168 months on July 27, 2007; Michelle Newton was sentenced to 120 months on August 24, 2007; Kent
Merksick was sentenced to 160 months on September 17, 2007; Kenneth Russell McCoy (also known as
Kenneth Russell Ragland) was sentenced to 216 months on September 24, 2007; Carol Ann Wheeler
was sentenced to 170 months on October 12, 2007; Steven Dale Bascue was sentenced to 168 months
on October 26, 2007; and Travis Lebanouski was sentenced to 97 months on November 2, 2007.
The investigation was conducted by the Council Bluffs, Iowa Police Department, the SWINE
Task Force, Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, Pottawattamie County Attorney’s Office, the
Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration.