Gov. Brad Little (R-ID), alongside federal and state law enforcement officials, announced sentencing for eleven defendants on federal drug trafficking charges.
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NewsTranscript
00:00well good morning everyone thank you for being here I am Justin Walker the acting United States
00:26Attorney for Idaho I am pleased to be joined today by Idaho Governor Brad Little Rob Wardle the
00:33assistant special agent in charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration Idaho State Police
00:38Major Sean Staley and Chad Page the chief of prisons for the Idaho Department of Corrections
00:44as well as members of the Idaho State Police the Drug Enforcement Administration and the US
00:50Attorney's Office that worked on the case that we're here to talk about today today we are here
00:56to highlight an investigation that culminated in two drug trafficking federal cases and a total
01:04of 11 defendants that were charged convicted and sentenced here in the District of Idaho this
01:11investigation took place over the course of many months spanned from Idaho to Arizona and involved
01:19the cooperative efforts of 10 law enforcement agencies in Idaho the defendants that were charged
01:26and convicted in this case participated in a large fentanyl and methamphetamine drug trafficking
01:33conspiracy that sourced the drugs from Mexico smuggled them over the border into the United States
01:41and transported them to Idaho for distribution this investigation resulted in the seizure of over
01:4948,000 fentanyl pills and four pounds of methamphetamine much of the investigation focused on the Magic
01:56Valley area in this case successfully hindered the flow of fentanyl into Idaho and into the Magic Valley
02:04area as listed in the press release that we gave you the defendants that were sentenced are as follows
02:12Austin Chad Lee 29 of Twin Falls was sentenced to 140 months in prison Arafat Ramirez 43 of Jerome was sentenced to 140
02:2340 months in prison Brandon Aaron Dana 37 of Leodore was sentenced to 120 months in prison Tina Jane Morris 46 of Pocatello was sentenced to 97 months in prison
02:38Sammy Davey Martinez 49 of Nampa was sentenced to 78 months in prison Jamie Lee Coltrane 36 of Rupert was sentenced to 48 months in prison
02:50Jenica Ann Johnson 31 of Pocatello was sentenced to 48 months in prison Daniel Ross Coltrane 40 of Paul was sentenced to 21 or excuse me 25 months in prison Rosa Ramirez 64 of Jerome was sentenced to 24 months in prison
03:05Rachel Dixon 36 of Boise was sentenced to 3 years probation and Leila Vanessa Ramirez Martinez 35 of Jerome was sentenced to 2 years of probation
03:12and Leila Vanessa Ramirez-Marinez 35 of Jerome was sentenced to 2 years of probation I commend the outstanding investigative efforts of the Idaho State Police the Drug Enforcement Administration the Sheriff's Offices from Ada Twin Falls Minidoka and Casha County the City Police Department of the
03:35for Pocatello, Nampa, and Garden City, as well as the Idaho Department of
03:41Corrections that all participated in this investigation. The sentencings in
03:47this case highlight the serious threat that fentanyl and methamphetamine
03:53traffickers pose to Idaho and our communities, and it also represents the
04:00commitment that we have to stop them. This case is yet another example of the flow
04:07of dangerous drugs from Mexico into the United States and eventually ending up in
04:11Idaho. These drugs significantly endanger our citizens and our communities. I am
04:18very appreciative of the support that the state of Idaho and Idaho Governor Brad
04:23Little, the Idaho State Police, and the county sheriffs and city police departments
04:29provide to the United States Department of Justice to address the lethal threat
04:34posed by dangerous drugs being smuggled from Mexico. I thank our law enforcement
04:39partners for the dedication to these important cases, which help keep Idaho a
04:44safe and wonderful place to live. And I will now turn it over to Governor Brad
04:49Little.
04:51Thank you, Justin. It's not lost on me about the communities that were enlisted, from our
05:02biggest community to two of our smallest communities. This is a problem that obviously
05:08permeates our state and the cooperation that Justin just alluded to basically epitomizes the
05:17best efforts of all of Idaho, our partners in the local government, our partners at the
05:23federal government to address this. When I talk to Idahoans constantly, the one thing
05:29that they're, and part of the reason people are moving to Idaho, is because they want to
05:34be safe. Public safety is a huge driver of Idaho's growth. Our high quality of life
05:41drives economic opportunities. But without public safety, our quality of life is not
05:48possible. That's why I made our Operation Esto Perpetua a top priority for this
05:54administration. This initiative championed historic investments in the Idaho State
06:00Police, with a particular focus on fentanyl, drug trafficking, and human trafficking. With
06:07those investments, the leadership of Colonel Gardner, who runs the state police, and the
06:13rest of his team, we were able to contribute so much more to the shared effort to get drugs
06:18off our streets. I would like to highlight for a moment some of the big wins we had this
06:24session with the legislature. We secured a new Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in North Idaho
06:32to focus solely on putting away drug traffickers. We strengthened Idaho's laws related to immigration
06:39enforcement, both through the signing of my executive order and the Border Security and
06:44Immigration Enforcement Act that was House Bill 83. I think anyone in the room today would
06:52tell you drug trafficking and our country's immigration policy are directly linked. In a matter
06:59of weeks, President Trump took steps to completely turn the situation at the border around. Here
07:06are some of the border successes in two to three months since the President took office.
07:13Illegal crossings have declined to the lowest level ever recorded, down 94 percent from February
07:20of 2024, and down 96 percent from an all-time high. Two years ago, U.S. Border Patrol agents encountered
07:301,500 illegal immigrants every day in the El Paso sector alone. Now, they see roughly 80 a day amid
07:39President Trump's unprecedented efforts. The Department of Homeland Security announced that arrests of criminal
07:47illegal illegal immigrants have doubled. President Trump declared a national emergency at the border
07:53and deployed the military to secure our nation. Illegal immigrants are flat out just turning around in
08:00droves amid the crackdown. These changes will be felt at the local level with fewer drugs on our streets.
08:07Our law enforcement partners from the federal level to the local level work closely with the Idaho State
08:14Police Police to keep our people safe. I want to congratulate everyone in the room for reaching
08:19this pivotal moment. Today's news doesn't just keep us on track to protect southern Idaho,
08:27it keeps us on track to protect the entirety of the state of Idaho. Thank you very much.
08:34I'll now turn it over to ASAC Rob Wirtle for comments from the DEA.
08:37Good morning, everyone. First of all, I'd like to thank our state and local partners,
08:46as well as U.S. Attorney's Office, for our cooperation in this case, as well as to congratulate
08:55everybody who participated in this investigation, congratulate them on a job well done. During this
09:01investigation, teamwork was paramount. The cooperation that we received in Idaho with our state and local,
09:10as well as our other federal counterparts here, is amazing. We know that we work better as a team,
09:20and the amount of resources and manpower that we can bring to investigation as a team,
09:28and the amount of evidence is the only way you can do a case of this magnitude. During this investigation,
09:34there was nearly 50,000 fentanyl pills that were seized, any one of which could have contained a lethal
09:44dose. And by getting this off the street, I'm sure we have prevented possible overdoses or deaths.
09:51Additionally, with the folks that were arrested and the seriousness of their sentencing, it's clear
10:02that Idaho and U.S. Attorney's Office is serious about taking these people off the streets and giving
10:08them significant sentences. DEA intends to continue our cooperation with the state and locals to target,
10:18to identify and to target additional traffickers, as we do every day. Our folks are out there
10:25working hard every day, putting in long hours to try and get traffickers and drugs off the street,
10:31and to remove these threats from our communities. And we'll continue to do so, and again,
10:38congratulate everybody that participated on a job well done.
10:40Thank you. Major Staley, Iowa State Police. Good morning, I'm Sean Staley. I'm the Eastern Major for
10:49the Iowa State Police. And on behalf of Colonel Gardner, I'd just like to say kind of the same
10:57things. Congratulations to all the law enforcement agents and agencies that work together to tirelessly
11:04to see this investigation through to completion. It's a great example of what we can accomplish with
11:10teamwork and cooperation. And without a doubt, I can attest that removing this poison from our communities
11:18has saved lives. And so I'm grateful for all of our people who have worked hard on that. I'd also like to
11:26acknowledge the importance of community support in our work. You may not realize this, but the reason
11:34we do the work that we do is because we love the support and the communities in which we live and serve.
11:41And so we could not do this without your support. So continue to support your local law enforcement
11:47services and together we can achieve great things and keep Idaho safe. Thank you.
11:56Thank you. We're happy to take any questions that you have.