Pubdate: Fri, 16 Feb 2007
Source: Des Moines Register (IA)
Copyright: 2007 The Des Moines Register
Contact:  http://desmoinesregister.com/index.html
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/123
Author: Tom Barton
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)

US IA: C.R. COUPLE SENTENCED FOR INVOLVEMENT IN HEROIN DEATH

A Cedar Rapids couple were sentenced each to 15 years in federal 
prison for their involvement in a heroin overdose that led to an 
Ottumwa man's death in 2004.

The U.S. Attorney's Office of the Northern District of Iowa announced 
Friday that Nick, 31, and Michelle Howeash, 27, were both sentenced 
after pleading guilty on Aug. 10 to distributing heroin in the Cedar 
Rapids area.

An unsealed federal indictment shows the couple purchased $100 worth 
of the drug from a number of sources in Cedar Rapids and on Dec. 31, 
2004, drove to Ottumwa, where they met a friend.

The three injected some of the heroin and later shared with another 
man who was intoxicated at the time. Within five minutes of injecting 
the drug, the man began to overdose, and died shortly thereafter.

Nick and Michelle Howeash were also ordered by a federal judge to pay 
more than $6,830 in restitution for funeral expenses.

The two were released on bond and are to surrender to the Bureau of 
Prisons on a date to be set.

The U.S. Attorney's Office is not releasing the name of the man who 
died from the heroin overdose, and in the federal indictment he is 
referred to only by his initials, C.H.

"We don't release information of the victim, for privacy reasons," 
said C.J. Williams with the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The convictions represent the latest efforts by an Iowa ad hoc drug 
task force in investigating and prosecuting a rash of heroin-related 
deaths in Eastern Iowa in recent years.

So far, the task force -- comprised of officials from the Drug 
Enforcement Agency, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Cedar 
Rapids Police Department, Iowa City Police Department, Johnson and 
Wapello County sheriff's offices -- has made 26 arrests in connection 
to the investigation. Twenty-four have either pled or been found 
guilty. Another two are awaiting trial.

In the last two years, there have been eight heroin-related deaths in 
the Cedar Rapids area.

The last suspected case of death from heroin overdose was in early 2006.

"The word on the street is don't mess with heroin," said Williams. 
"It's been nine months since we've seen someone die of an overdose. 
Is heroin still available and will it be in the future, yes, but 
we've made significant strides in stemming this problem."

The task force was created in October 2005, and remains the largest 
heroin investigation in Eastern Iowa.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman