POCATELLO – Jesus Sanchez-Carranza, 38, a Mexican national, and Jesus Mara- Figuerora, 52, of Tetonia, Idaho, were sentenced this week for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. The two men appeared before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill at the federal courthouse in Pocatello.

Sanchez-Carranza was sentenced on Tuesday to 97 months in prison followed by eight years of supervised release. On April 13, 2011, Sanchez-Carranza was convicted by a federal jury on three counts of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, distribution of methamphetamine, and distribution of methamphetamine in or within 1,000 feet of a playground.

Mara-Figuerora was sentenced to 70 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. He pleaded guilty to the charge on April 7, 2011.

According to court documents and trial testimony, between September 2007 and June 2010, the men, along with co-defendants, were responsible for distributing large quantities of methamphetamine, cocaine and firearms in Teton County and the Upper Snake River Valley, as well as Wyoming and Utah. On at least one occasion, Sanchez-Carranza supplied the methamphetamine to Mara-Figueroa, which Mara-Figueroa then sold to an undercover officer.

To date, seven co-defendants, including several Mexican nationals, were previously sentenced to terms ranging up to 41 months.

“These sentences demonstrate that those who would poison our communities and our youth with methamphetamine will serve long sentences in federal prisons,” said Olson. “State and federal law enforcement officers throughout Idaho will work together to ensure that drug traffickers are caught, prosecuted and convicted.”

The case was investigated by the Idaho State Police (ISP), the Idaho Falls Police Department, the Teton County Sheriff’s Department, the Fremont County Sheriff's Office, Teton County (Wyoming) Sheriff's Office, Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

The investigation was the result of a joint investigation of the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). 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.