Third Man Sentenced for Distribution of Methamphetamine in North Idaho

Michael Ray Opland, 52, of Shoshone County, Idaho, was sentenced yesterday to 188 months in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and failure to appear, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced. U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge also ordered Opland to serve five years of supervised release following his prison term. Opland pleaded guilty to the charges in September 2009.

Co-defendant Paul Dean Hartman, 44, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, had previously been sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Lynn B. Winmill in January 2010 to 188 months in federal prison for his participation in the conspiracy. A third co-defendant, Terry Stoddard, 48, of Coeurd’Alene, Idaho, was sentenced in July 2009 to five years' probation for her part in the conspiracy.

U.S. District Judge Burns, from the Southern District of California, noted Stoddard had voluntarily ended her participation in the conspiracy prior to her arrest and also had done significant post offense rehabilitation on her own.

The evidence showed Hartman, Stoddard, and Opland all used the same source in Washington to get some of the methamphetamine they trafficked. They transported it to Idaho and Montana and would sell it for a profit or broker deals between various distributors and sellers. The total conspiracy involved between 500 grams and five kilograms of methamphetamine.

U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Moss commended the hard work of the North Idaho Violent Crime Task Force (NIVCTF). “The sentencing today shows the how devastating methamphetamine distribution is to our community. This group is now dismantled thanks to the hard work of local, state and federal law enforcement working towards a common goal.”

The NIVCTF, consisting of investigators representing the FBI, Idaho State Police, Kootenai County Sheriff's Department, Shoshone County Sheriff's Office, Bonner County Sheriff's Office, Coeur d'Alene Police Department, Post Falls Police Department, and the Coeur d’Alene Tribal Police Department, is tasked with investigating a myriad of violent crimes to include armed robbery, kidnapping, felonious assault, and drug trafficking.