Hunter
03/15/23
A retired University of Iowa professor will spend at least 25 years in federal prison after reaching a plea deal with prosecutors for distributing meth that resulted in a person’s death and for possessing thousands of child pornography images.
The Gazette reports 65-year-old John Muriello has pleaded to one one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute meth that resulted in serious bodily injury or death and one count of possession of child pornography.
Muriello, of Iowa City, allegedly bought drugs from a supplier in California and sold it to another man on a regular basis. The man, 49-year-old Eric Hojka, in turn provided it to a person who injected it and died in May 2021. An autopsy found the victim died from meth intoxication.
Both Hojka and Muriello had obtained ice meth on multiple occasions from the California supplier. The supplier was investigated in July 2021 on an unrelated matter and learned that he had been mailing packages to Muriello and Hojka beginning in 2020.
Muriello was already under investigation after the U of I received an anonymous email in April 2020 from a parent of a freshman student who said he attended a party at Muriello’s home. Partygoers were allegedly provided with the “date rape” drug so that Muriello could have sex with them and record sex acts. Muriello also reportedly possessed an extensive child pornography collection on multiple devices at the home.
Iowa City police obtained a search warrant in May 2021 and seized a number of devices, along with packages containing meth.
One of the hard drives seized was password protected but was opened by investigators. There they reportedly found over 18,500 photos and nearly 3200 videos. Nearly all of them were pornographic, and about 12,000 files featured minor boys.
The plea calls for Muriello to serve the minimum 20 years for the meth distribution and five years for the child porn conviction. He’s also agreed to waive forfeiture of his home and electronic devices. The sentencing judge may also order Muriello to pay victim restitution and a fine for the child pornography conviction.
Sentencing is set for June 20th in US District Court in Davenport.