Third Defendant in North Idaho Drug Trafficking Organization Pleads Guilty

COEUR D'ALENE – Augustine Jackson, 32, of Williston, North Dakota, pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiracy to distribute heroin, oxycodone and methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced.  Jackson was indicted by a federal grand Jury in Coeur d'Alene on April 19, 2016.

During the court hearing, Jackson admitted that she was part of a drug trafficking organization.   The organization sold heroin, oxycodone and methamphetamine in Idaho, Montana, North Dakota and Eastern Washington.  Jackson helped the organization by selling and transporting controlled substances and by making sure the profits went to the appropriate co-conspirator.  In addition to pleading guilty, Jackson agreed to forfeit any interest she has in real property, jewelry or cash held by herself or by conspirators as outlined in the indictment. 

In addition to Jackson, two other co-defendants have pleaded guilty.  Geena Lauren Milho, 25, of Williston, North Dakota pleaded guilty on September 14, 2016, to conspiracy to distribute heroin, oxycodone and methamphetamine.  Milho will be sentenced on January 18, 2017.  Sherlann Simon, 34, of North Las Vegas, Nevada, pleaded guilty on October 11, 2016, to conspiracy to launder money.  Simon will be sentenced on January 19, 2017. 

The charge of conspiracy to distribute controlled substance is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, a maximum fine of $1,000,000, and at least 3 years supervised release. 

Sentencing is set for March 7, 2017, before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill at the federal courthouse in Coeur d'Alene.

The case was investigated by CDA Police, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI), Kootenai County Sheriff, North Idaho Violent Crimes Task Force (NIVCTF), and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The indictment is the result of a joint investigation of the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), which included the cooperative law enforcement efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, and 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.