Two men were found guilty by a federal jury in Sioux City on November 25, 2025, following an 11-day trial. Floyd Clifford Coates, Jr., also known as Cliff Coates, age 44 from St. Francis, Kansas, and Dennis Lawson, age 65 from Whiting, Iowa, faced multiple charges related to drugs, firearms, and obstruction of justice.
Coates was convicted on several counts including conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, possession of ammunition by a felon and drug user, conspiracy to conceal objects with the intent to impair their availability for an official proceeding, and concealing objects with the intent to impair their availability for an official proceeding. He was acquitted of other charges related to threats and obstruction.
Lawson was convicted of using threat of physical force against another with the intent to hinder or prevent communication to law enforcement about a federal offense. He was acquitted on other charges relating to drugs, threats, and obstruction.
The jury deliberated for about two hours before returning its verdict.
Evidence presented at trial showed that in spring 2019 Coates participated in a drug trafficking organization moving methamphetamine from Colorado into Iowa for redistribution. Coates reportedly used firearms to protect his operation. During Easter weekend in 2019 he arranged for an Iowa woman to drive him from Sioux City through Blair, Nebraska toward Kansas City. Accompanying him from Trenton, Nebraska was Sunny Sramek—an 18-year-old woman who told friends she believed she was going only as far as Omaha.
Testimony indicated that after arriving in Blair at a home where Sramek did not enter but remained outside with Coates’s vehicle—a white Ford Explorer—another driver arrived. The driver testified seeing Sramek motionless; it appeared she had overdosed after being given methamphetamine by Coates. The planned trip was canceled and instead they traveled with Coates’s brother-in-law Dennis Lawson near Whiting along the Missouri River. According to testimony the two men disappeared for some time; when they returned Sramek’s body was gone. The driver said she helped clean out the car under direction from Coates and received threats from Lawson: “if she told anyone it would be her funeral.”
Coates reportedly gave different accounts regarding what happened next but consistently stated he disposed of Sramek’s body in the Missouri River to cover up his crimes. In one instance he remarked “no body no case” and questioned whether murder could be charged without finding a body.
Investigators gathered significant physical evidence connecting Coates with Sramek’s disappearance including forensic analysis showing her DNA and blood inside the white Ford Explorer.
“Sunny Sramek went missing more than six years ago,” said United States Attorney Leif Olson. “But the investigators’ dedication kept her case from going cold. Thanks to them, these two criminals now face judgment for Sunny’s disappearance. Those who believe they can escape justice through threats, cover-ups or the passage of time will discover they are mistaken.”
“The convictions of Coates and Lawson represent years of tireless unwavering efforts by a dedicated team of FBI personnel who never stopped looking for Sunny Sramek,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Eugene Kowel. “Despite the defendants’ best efforts to conceal involvement in her disappearance the FBI persisted in our mission to hold these subjects accountable for their actions. We hope these convictions bring some measure of solace to Sunny’s family. The FBI will always use every tool and technique in our arsenal to seek justice for the missing and attempts to hinder those efforts will be aggressively investigated.”
Sentencing is pending before Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand after preparation of presentence reports; both men remain held by U.S. Marshals Service.
Coates faces up to life imprisonment plus five years supervised release while Lawson faces up to twenty years imprisonment plus three years supervised release.
Multiple agencies participated in investigating this case including local sheriff’s offices across Nebraska Kansas and Iowa; state agencies such as Nebraska State Patrol Iowa Department of Public Safety Division of Criminal Investigation Iowa Department of Natural Resources Office of State Medical Examiner; Goodland Police Department (Kansas); Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms & Explosives (ATF); Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); prosecution is led by Assistant United States Attorney Forde Fairchild.
