Idaho Falls Man Sentenced to 96 Months for Meth Trafficking

POCATELLO – Sammy Joe Aguirre, 27, of Idaho Falls, Idaho, was sentenced today in United States District Court to 96 months in prison for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill also ordered Aguirre to serve three years of supervised release and perform 100 hours of community service following his release from prison. Aguirre pleaded guilty to the charge on November 19, 2013.

According to the plea agreement, on March 21, 2013, law enforcement officers observed Aguirre traveling from Idaho Falls to Rupert, Idaho, where he obtained approximately one pound of methamphetamine. While transporting the methamphetamine back to eastern Idaho, Aguirre’s vehicle was stopped, he was arrested and law enforcement seized the methamphetamine. Aguirre admitted in court that he obtained the methamphetamine with the intention of distributing it to others.

Aguirre’s co-defendant, Emilio Raymond Martinez, of Rigby, Idaho, was sentenced in January 2014 to 80 months in prison for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. According to court documents, on February 26, 2013, during execution of a search warrant at a residence in Bonneville County, officers found Martinez in possession of methamphetamine, which he intended to distribute, and paraphernalia.

The case is the result of a joint investigation of the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), led by the Idaho State Police, with assistance from the Idaho Falls Police Department and Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office. Other federal agencies participating in the OCEDTF program include the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives (ATF), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), 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.