Iowa woman indicted for allegedly dealing heroin, fentanyl out of home-based day care

Daniel P. Finney
The Des Moines Register

Federal prosecutors indicted an Iowa child care provider on drug trafficking charges, according to court documents filed Tuesday.

Authorities allege Latosha Prather, 36, of Des Moines, supplied large quantities of heroin and the synthetic opioid fentanyl to a Virginia Beach, Virginia, drug dealer.

Prather faces 10 felony drug charges in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The indictment claims Prather sold both heroin and fentanyl out of her home-based day care in September 2017.

Prather and another woman have a state license to provide child care for up to 16 children. The license is active and set to expire at the end of this year. 

Prather’s operation had one complaint in state records — a concern that the service was over capacity. State caseworkers ruled the complaint unfounded after conducting both scheduled and unscheduled visits.

Federal authorities accuse Prather of making drug deals by phone and text message from the home where she provides child care in the 1100 block of Pennsylvania Avenue in Des Moines.

Prather referred to drug packages as “sneakers” in text messages, court records state. 

The indictment claims Prather and another person drove from Des Moines to Virginia Beach to supply narcotics to a drug dealer who was sentenced to 30 years in prison earlier this year.

Efforts to reach Prather through the telephone number provided on her state child care license were unsuccessful. Court records did not name an attorney representing Prather.

Daniel P. Finney can be reached at 515-284-8144 or dafinney@dmreg.com. Follow him on Twitter at @newsmanone or Facebook at @danielpfinney.