Inset: Amber D. Snow (Winneshiek County Jail). Background: The Winneshiek County Sheriff's Office (Google Maps).
An Iowa woman will spend years behind bars for trying to cause a miscarriage by giving a pregnant woman an adulterated lasagna.
Amber Dena Snow, 36, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to several charges, including one count each of attempted nonconsensual termination of a pregnancy, child endangerment, and intent to deliver a controlled substance, as well as four counts of conspiracy to commit a non-forcible felony, Winneshiek County court records show.
In turn, Snow was quickly sentenced to 10 years in state prison.
The underlying incident occurred in late December 2025. Snow and a co-conspirator gave a family a pan of lasagna laced with oxycodone, according to the Winneshiek County Sheriff's Office.
In January, deputies announced they were investigating "a family-size pan of lasagna that had allegedly been laced with a controlled substance." A multiagency investigation soon came together.
Several warrants were executed in connection with the probe, the sheriff's office said. Eventually, investigators determined Snow and her accomplice "laced the lasagna" and intended for a pregnant woman in the family to have a miscarriage after eating the dish.
"During the investigation, it was determined that delivery of the tainted lasagna was intended to cause a miscarriage to a pregnancy of a woman in the family that received the lasagna," the sheriff's office said.
Initially, law enforcement identified the accomplice as another woman and both women were detained and brought in for questioning — with authorities saying they quickly unraveled the plan.
Weeks later, police arrested Matthew Uthoff, 35, on the same set of charges. He has been identified as Snow's husband in some reports.
The sheriff's office pointed to "electronic communications and search history on the defendants' accounts and phones from before and after the lasagna was prepared and delivered" as key evidence in the case.
The pregnant victim had "no knowledge" of what had been put in the lasagna and did not consent to the drugs being included in the food, law enforcement noted at the time of Snow's arrest.
Snow shared custody of her child with members of the intended victim's family, according to the Des Moines Register.
As it turned out, Snow's child was present while the tainted lasagna was being prepared, had made their opposition to the poisoning plan known, and was also there when the food was delivered.
Testing by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Criminalistics Laboratory determined the lasagna had, in fact, been laced with oxycodone, an opioid typically not recommended during pregnancy.
In April, Uthoff pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
Jerry Lambe contributed to this report.