[420 Girl]

CEDAR RAPIDS - Two Eastern Iowa men who helped smuggle more than 8,000 pounds of marijuana into Iowa over the course of two years pleaded guilty to distribution and money laundering charges in federal court last week.

At their plea hearings, Jeffrey Kopp, 53, of Marion, and Michael Breneman. 55. of Maquoketa, admitted to their involvement in a five-person drug ring that conspired to smuggle high-quality marijuana into the United States from Canada for redistribution between 2005 and May 18, 2007, U.S. Attorney Matt Dummermuth announced Monday.

The investigation began in May 2007 when Customs and Border Protection officers seized 600 pounds of marijuana hidden in the walls of a refrigerator trailer as it was entering the United States at Pembina, N. D. The marijuana was to be delivered to Kopp and Breneman in Delaware County. Federal agents then made controlled deliveries of the marijuana to them, as well as three other men in Chicago.

Records show the conspiracy involved more than 8,000 pounds of marijuana and netted its participants more than $3.5 million.

Kopp and Breneman are set to be sentenced by United States District Court Judge Mark Bennett on May 27 and 28 in Sioux City. They each face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a $4 million fine and between 5 years to life on supervised release following any prison sentence. Neither man had a prior criminal record in the state of Iowa.

Drug Enforcement Administration Task Force officers from the Linn County Sheriff's Office, Cedar Rapids Police Department, Marion Police Department, Iowa City Police Department and Clinton Police Department, participated in the investigation.

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