United States Drug Enforcement Administration

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - A Cedar Rapids, Iowa, man and woman responsible for participating in a robbery that led to the murder of another man were sentenced to a combined 43 years and four months in federal prison.

Evidence during the case established that Danielle Busch, William Leo Yancey and Matthew Robbins, who will be sentenced at a later date, conspired to rob a local drug dealer, and then robbed the dealer on May 31, 2014. During the robbery, Robbins possessed a firearm which was discharged, murdering the victim. 

Busch, age 31, was sentenced to 10 years and one day in federal prison after an April 13, 2020, guilty plea to conspiracy to commit robbery affecting interstate commerce and using and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence resulting in murder.

Yancey, age 46, received 33 years and four months in prison after a May 13, 2021, guilty plea to robbery affecting interstate commerce and using and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence resulting in murder.

“The truth of the matter is that more often than not, where there are drugs, guns and violence follow,” Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Omaha Division Special Agent in Charge Justin C. King said, “Our investigators work around the clock to remove the threat these dangerous criminals pose. This sentencing should serve as a reminder that the choices you make in life have consequences.”

Busch and Yancey were sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand, who described the case as an “horrific offense.”  Busch must also serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  Judge Strand noted that Yancey has been a drain on the criminal justice system who has engaged in criminal conduct throughout his adult life.  Yancey is currently serving a 188-month prison term for conspiring to manufacture methamphetamine and will begin serving this sentence once he finishes serving that term of imprisonment.  He must also serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

“The volatile combination of drugs and guns resulted in a man’s tragic death,” said Acting United States Attorney Sean R. Berry.  “Today’s sentences hold accountable two of the individuals who participated in a plan to rob that man of drugs and money.  Our office is committed to vigorously prosecuting those who mix drugs, guns, and violence.”

Busch and Yancey are being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until they can be transported to a federal prison.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Lisa C. Williams and Emily K. Nydle and was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Marion Police Department, the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation, the Linn County Sheriff’s Office, the Cedar Rapids Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Iowa City Police Department, the United States Marshals Service, the Davenport Police Department, the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, the Benton County Sheriff’s Office, the Cedar County Sheriff’s Office, the Madison County Sheriff’s Office, and the Daytona Beach Shores Florida Police Department.  Assistance was also provided by the Waypoint Services Survivor's Program in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.