Cedar Rapid Man Sentenced to More Than a Decade in Prison for Helping Bring Meth to Iowa

Has Prior Convictions for Drug Offenses and Violent Crime in Iowa and California

A Cedar Rapids man who worked with others to bring drugs from California to Iowa was sentenced today to more than eleven years in federal prison.

Kasey Charles Konzem, age 43, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after a July 15, 2019, guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

In a plea agreement, Konzem admitted going to California with another individual who brought pounds of methamphetamine back to Iowa.  Konzem also admitted sending money transfers to facilitate the drug trafficking.  Konzem’s criminal history includes a 2002 conviction for inflicting corporal injury upon a spouse or cohabitant, battery, burglary, and multiple theft offenses.  Konzem has previously been convicted for drug offenses in California and Iowa.

Konzem was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams.  Konzem was sentenced to 140 months’ imprisonment. He must also serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

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

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Emily K. Nydle and was investigated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program of the United States Department of Justice through a cooperative effort of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Task Force consisting of the DEA; the Linn County Sheriff's Office; the Cedar Rapids Police Department; the Marion Police Department; and the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement.