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OTTUMWA, IOWA -- Two drug suspects arrested by local law enforcement will have their fate decided in federal court.

Ottumwa Police say that state drug charges against Luis Rene Mendoza and Blanca Inelda Ortiz-Rodriquez were dismissed so they could be prosecuted in federal court.

Mendoza was arrested in June by Southeast Iowa Drug Task Force officers after serving a warrant at a home on East Fourth Street.

Mendoza was arraigned in federal court today, and will face a federal charge of Possession with Intent to Deliver meth.

Rodriguez is the California woman who was arrested in Eddyville in June after a Wapello County Sheriff's deputy found a staggering four pounds of meth in the vehicle she was driving.

Ottumwa Police say she will also face federal charges of Possesion with Intent to Deliver.

In other crime news, Robert Anthony Carrillo, 24 was sentenced to ten years in prison on drug and theft charges.

Carrillo was arrested in March on the theft charges, and in April for Possession of Meth with Intent to Deliver.

As part of the plea agreement , Carrillo received 10 years for each case, with the sentences to run concurrently.

Original Mendoza Story

Original Ortiz-Rodriguez Story