United States Drug Enforcement Administration

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Todd C. Smith, Assistant Special Agent in Charge at U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Chicago Division, and U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Harris for the Central District of Illinois announced that Monica Renee Wright, 39, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, was sentenced to 22 years in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute at least 50 grams of actual methamphetamine and at least 500 grams of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine.

At the sentencing hearing, Chief U.S. District Judge Sara L. Darrow commented on Wright’s role as the interstate source of supply for kilogram quantities of methamphetamine being transported to and resold in the Central District of Illinois.

Wright was convicted following a three-day jury trial in June 2022. The statutory penalties for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute at least 50 grams of actual methamphetamine and at least 500 grams of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine are 10 years to life imprisonment.

“The distribution of methamphetamine brings blight to our community,” said U.S. Attorney Harris. “Our office appreciates the work of our federal and local law enforcement partners – both within Illinois and in Colorado – in helping stem the flow of illegal narcotics into our area.”

The investigation was conducted by the DEA, Quad City Metropolitan Enforcement Group (QCMEG), Rock Island County Sheriff’s Department, Scott County Sheriff’s Department and Colorado Springs Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alyssa Raya and Jennifer Mathew represented the government at trial.