Investigation by Winneshiek, Fayette and Chickasaw County Sheriff's Departments pays off in two guilty pleas to drug charges

A Fredericksburg couple have entered guilty pleas to charges of conspiring to distribute pseudoephedrine to be used in the manufacture of methamphetamine.

36-year-old Enrique Manzo and 31-year-old Jessica Manzo entered the pleas in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids.  They each face a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in jail and a $250,000 fine.

The case was investigated by members of the Decorah, West Union, Postville and Monona Police Departments and the Chickasaw, Fayette and Winneshiek County Sheriff's Departments.  The case stems from information uncovered in arrests in Waucoma earlier this year.

Evidence in the court case against the Manzos included pharmacy surveillance video that captured other people buying pseudoephedrine and then meeting Enrique or Jessica Manzo in the parking lot to hand them the pills.  The Manzos admitted during plea hearings that they had agreed to buy pseudoephedrine and sell or trade it to a methamphetamine cook.