Hunter
08/07/25
A Coralville woman convicted earlier this year of distributing thousands of fentanyl pills in the area has been sentenced to federal prison.
The Gazette reports 36-year-old Ashley Wachs pleaded guilty February 19th in US District Court to one count of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances. Wachs admitted, in a plea agreement, she was responsible for transporting “thousands” of fentanyl pills from Seattle, Washington into Coralville and the surrounding area, where she distributed the drug.
Wachs caught the attention of the Johnson County Drug Enforcement Task Force back in August 2023, and she was identified by a confidential informant the following June as a person distributing fentanyl pills in the Iowa City area.
Law enforcement executed a controlled buy with Wachs in July 2024, and she was indicted. She was observed by license plate readers traveling west towards Washington that August, and was stopped in Iowa County on September 4th by the Iowa State Patrol and the Johnson County Drug Enforcement Task Force. Over 4000 fentanyl pills and about 71 grams of ice meth was seized. Two cellphones were also seized and found to contain messages about going to Washington State multiple times to pick up fentanyl.
U.S. District Chief Judge C.J. Williams sentenced Wachs this week to six years in federal prison and three years of supervised release following her prison term.