Post Falls Man Pleads Guilty to Drug Charge

Michael Opland, 52, of Post Falls, Idaho, pled guilty yesterday in federal court in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and failure to appear. Opland admitted working with others to distribute methamphetamine in Idaho and Montana. The second charge was a result of Opland’s failure to appear for an April 14, 2009, trial date on the methamphetamine charge.

Opland will serve a minimum of ten years in federal prison for the drug conviction. The maximum penalty is life imprisonment. Opland will be required to serve additional prison time based upon his failure to appear. That sentence must run consecutive to the sentence he serves on the drug charge.

U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Moss praised the multi-jurisdictional work on the case by the North Idaho Violent Crimes Task Force. The task force is comprised of law enforcement officers from the Shoshone and Kootenai County Sheriffs’ Offices, the Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls Police Departments, the Coeur d’Alene Tribal Police Department and Idaho Department of Corrections, the Idaho State Police and Federal Bureau of Investigation.