Idaho Falls Man Sentenced for Meth Trafficking

POCATELLO—John Robert Anderson, 34, of Idaho Falls, Idaho, was sentenced today to 24 months in prison, followed by four years of supervised release, for possession with intent to distribute in excess of five grams of actual methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. Anderson was sentenced by Senior U.S. District Judge Terry J. Hatter, Jr. at the federal courthouse in Pocatello. He pleaded guilty to the charge on February 7, 2013.

According to the plea agreement, on August 29, 2012, law enforcement officers arrested Anderson in Idaho Falls for outstanding warrants. A subsequent search revealed Anderson was in possession of 19 grams of a substance containing 17.36 grams of methamphetamine, a digital scale disguised as a cell phone, and baggies. Anderson admitted he possessed the methamphetamine with the intention of distributing it to another person.

The indictment was a result of an investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), including the Idaho State Police, Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office, Idaho Falls Police Department, Madison County Sheriff’s Office, Rexburg Police Department, Bingham County Sheriff’s Office, Fremont County Sheriff’s Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). Other federal agencies participating in the OCDETF program include the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Marshals Service.

The OCDETF program is a federal multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force that supplies supplemental federal funding to federal and state agencies involved in the identification, investigation, and prosecution of major drug trafficking organizations.