United States Drug Enforcement Administration

COEUR d’ALENE, Idaho - Janette Marie Baucum, 59, of Scio, Oregon, pleaded guilty on December 4, 2012, in United States District Court in Coeur d’Alene to conspiracy to structure financial transactions. 

According to statements made in court, in September 2007, Baucum and her husband, co-defendant Robert  Baucum, used proceeds of illegal drug activity to purchase a new vehicle in northern Idaho. Baucum and her husband structured the cash portion of the transaction in a manner designed to avoid reporting requirements that may have brought their activity to the attention of law enforcement.

Baucum’s case stems from an ongoing Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task (OCDETF) marijuana trafficking investigation led by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Idaho State Police, Boundary County Sheriff’s Office, and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation. Five co-defendants - Robert Baucum, Charles Goodenough, Raymond Hogle, Justin Egner, and Ronald Underwood - have pleaded guilty to marijuana conspiracy charges. Four of the men were sentenced last month to serve federal prison terms.  The remaining defendant, Justin Egner, is set for sentencing in February 2013. Assets totaling over $1.3 million have been forfeited during the investigation.

The charge of conspiracy to structure financial transactions is punishable by up to five years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release. Janette Baucum is scheduled to be sentenced on March 5, 2013, before U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge at the federal courthouse in Coeur d’Alene.

The case was the result of a joint investigation of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Idaho State Police, Boundary County Sheriff’s Office, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, Linn County Sheriff’s (Oregon), and the Alaska State Troopers.

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. Task force members include the Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’(ICE) Homeland Security (HSI), Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, and U.S. Marshals Service