Utah Man Pleads Guilty to Idaho Drug Charge
Two Co-Defendants Scheduled for Sentencing in November

POCATELLO—Fernando Garcia, 31, of Logan, Utah, pleaded guilty today in United States District Court to one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced.

According to the plea agreement, on April 22, 2011, Garcia arranged to sell and subsequently delivered cocaine to another individual in Idaho Falls, Idaho, for $1,150. Garcia admitted knowing the substance he was distributing was cocaine.

Garcia is scheduled to be sentenced on November 19, 2013, before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill at the federal courthouse in Pocatello. He faces up to 20 years in prison, a maximum fine of $1 million, and at least three years of supervised release.

Two co-defendants, Josue Rodriguez-Sanchez and Julian Vega-Valdez, both 25 and of Idaho Falls, pleaded guilty on August 14, 2013, to related drug charges. Sentencing is set for November 18, 2013.

The charges are the result of an investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), including the Idaho State Police, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), 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), 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.