Woman Sentenced to Prison for Giving Opioids Causing Overdose and Death to Her Cousin

Cousin Died From Mixed Drug Toxicity Due to Heroin and Fentanyl

A woman who provided heroin that contained fentanyl to her cousin and another person causing her cousin’s death was sentenced June 10, 2019, to more than three years in federal prison.

Marvita Roxanna Causey, age 39, from Waterloo, Iowa, received the prison term after a November 20, 2018 guilty plea to distribution of controlled substances.

Court filings show that Causey gave what she believed to be heroin to two individuals, her cousin and another woman.  Residue from the leftover heroin showed that the heroin also contained fentanyl.  Causey’s cousin was later found dead and Causey agreed that the proximate cause of her cousin’s death was her distribution of heroin and fentanyl.

Causey was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams.  Causey was sentenced to 37 months’ imprisonment.  She must also serve a 3-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Causey is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until she can be transported to a federal prison.