Final Defendant Sentenced in 10-Person Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force Conspiracy

BOISE—U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced that the final member of a 10-defendant southwest Idaho methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy was sentenced today in federal court in Boise. Samuel Chavez, 33, was sentenced to 66 months in federal prison for the crime of possession with intent to distribute in excess of 50 grams of methamphetamine. Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill also sentenced Chavez to three years of supervised release. He pleaded guilty on March 20, 2013.

According to court documents, beginning in January 2011 and continuing through December 16, 2011, Chavez participated in drug transactions with the lead defendant, Alfredo Dominguez-Villareal, distributing cocaine and 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. On one occasion, Chavez traded an AK-47 and ammunition for methamphetamine.

Nine members of the conspiracy have pleaded guilty and have been sentenced: Alfredo Dominguez-Villareal, a/k/a Alfredo Vasquez-Dominguez, a Mexican national, to 150 months in prison; Nelson Fernando Garcia-Soto, a Mexican national, to 148 months; Alonso Martinez, of Earlimart, California, to 60 months; Jimenez Valencia a/k/a Jorge Jimenez, a Mexican national, to 57 months; Juan Carlos Arredondo-Sicairos a/k/a Victor Kalil Medina-Feliciano, a Mexican national, to 120 months; Delia Garcia-Pineda, a Mexican national, to 37 months; Tanna Spencer, of Parma, Idaho, to 15 months; Hector Morales, of Delano, California, to six months; and Cynthia Casillas, also of Delano, to three years’ probation.

The case was the result of a joint investigation of the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), led by the Drug Enforcement Administration in conjunction with the Boise Police Department and the Ada County Sheriff’s Office. 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. Federal task force members include the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); and U.S. Marshals Service.