Video: Dr. Louviere pleads guilty »

WATERLOO -- A Waterloo doctor who was caught with almost $1 million worth of methamphetamine is facing up to 100 years in prison.

But under a plea agreement announced Tuesday, Dr. Mark Louviere will likely spend about 22 years behind bars.

Clad in a blue jail uniform with close-cropped hair, Louviere pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to possess more than 5 kilograms of meth with intent to distribute while in proximity to a park and while in control of a firearm.

Louviere, 50, of Waterloo, also pleaded to charges of conspiracy to possess more than 5 grams of meth near a park while in control of a firearm and violation of the drug tax stamp act.

Flanked by his attorneys, Louviere said little Tuesday aside from answering "yes, your honor" to a series of questions posed by Judge Thomas Bower. He was shacked at the wrists and ankles.

His mother and others watched the proceedings.

Sentencing will be at a later date, and Bower ordered a presentence report be prepared.

Louviere had faced up to 175 years in prison if time for all of the offenses was added together.

However, as part of the plea, the sentences will run concurrent, with the lesser stints running alongside the 5-kilogram charge that carries 100 years because of the firearms enhancements, said Assistant County Attorney Brad Walz, who prosecuted the case.

The 5-kilogram charge is punishable by a base sentence of 50 years in prison. The whole sentence was doubled because of the guns.

The charge carries a one-third mandatory minimum -- about 33 years -- before he can be considered for parole. But because he pleaded guilty instead of opting for trial, that mandatory minimum will itself be reduced by one third -- or about 11 years, Walz said.

Louviere could be eligible for parole after serving about 22 years.

Also as part of the plea arrangement, the state agreed not to submit the case for federal prosecution, said defense attorney James Metcalf.

He said a federal criminal case would have meant "substantially more" prison time but not a life sentence. There is no parole in the federal prison system.

Fines in the case, which could have totaled more than $1 million were suspended, but Louviere was ordered to pay miscellaneous fees, court costs and will lose his driver's license for 180 days.

State regulators already suspended his license to practice medicine.

The plea has no bearing on a forfeiture action filed by federal authorities in U.S. District Court to seize Louviere's house on Four Seasons Drive.

Authorities said Louviere gave an undercover informant meth from his home in early April.

Agents with the Tri-County Drug Enforcement Task Force obtained a warrant to search his home April 3, and a patrol officer pulled over the doctor in a traffic stop.

That afternoon they searched his home, finding seven firearms, about 1.97 pounds of meth and other items.

The investigation led drug agents to a neighbor's home that Louviere had been caring for while the owner was out of town. There they found a duffel bag with more than 11 pounds of meth with a street value of about $950,000.

The owner wasn't aware the house was used to store drugs, and he wasn't charged.

Louviere has remained in jail since his arrest in April.

Contact Jeff Reinitz at (319) 291-1578 or jeff.reinitz@wcfcourier.com.