SPOKANE, Wash. – Acting United States Attorney Richard Barker announced that United States District Judge Mary K. Dimke sentenced Ricardo Cantu, age 26, to 108 months in prison on drug trafficking charges. Judge Dimke also imposed 4 years of supervised release. According to court documents and information provided at the...

BOISE – Michael Paul Lacasse, 48, and Venetia Dawn Trischan, 47, of Caldwell, were sentenced to 133 months and 96 months, respectively, in federal prison for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine. According to court records, in December 2023, law enforcement learned that Lacasse and Trischan were involved in...

Spokane, Washington – A federal jury returned a guilty verdict in the trial of Luis Esquivel-Bolanos (a/k/a “Colorado”), age 45, of Guerrero, Mexico. Esquivel-Bolanos was found guilty on multiple drug trafficking and firearms charges. United States District Judge Thomas O. Rice presided over Esquivel-Bolanos’s trial, which began April 14, 2025...

BEAUMONT, Texas – A federal indictment in the Eastern District of Texas has resulted in the arrest of 16 individuals charged with various violations related to a wide-spread methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy, announced Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Acting Special Agent in Charge William Kimbell and Acting U.S. Attorney Abe McGlothin, Jr...

BEAUMONT, Texas – A Liberty man has been sentenced to federal prison for drug trafficking violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced Acting Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge William Kimbell of the Houston Division Acting U.S. Attorney Abe McGlothin, Jr. Thomas James Lawson, 35, pleaded guilty...

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A 37-year-old South Texan has been ordered to federal prison for illegally smuggling 43 kilograms of cocaine into the United States, announced Acting Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge William Kimbell of the Houston Division and U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei. Hector Julian Sustaita...

POCATELLO – Geoffrey W. Ancheta, 40, of Pocatello, was sentenced to 9 years in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute fentanyl. According to court records, members of the BADGES Task Force stopped Ancheta and his co-defendant, Alme Otto, as they returned from a trip to Arizona on April...

BOISE – Evan Nickolai Ernstson, 48, of Boise, was sentenced to 262 months in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, Acting U.S. Attorney Justin Whatcott announced today. Senior U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill also sentenced Ernstson to serve five years of supervised release upon completion of his...

BOISE – A large-scale Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation and prosecution resulted in the conviction of 11 Idaho defendants on federal drug trafficking charges, Acting U.S. Attorney Justin Whatcott announced today. The investigation involved the cooperative efforts of 10 federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies...

WACO, Texas – A group of 20 federally indicted individuals were arrested Friday in Waco on criminal charges related to their alleged drug trafficking conspiracy that had been in operation since April 2024 announced Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Acting Special Agent in Charge William Kimbell. The following defendants are indicted...