Two More Sentenced in Large Drug Trafficking Operation
BOISE – Two members of a southwest Idaho drug trafficking ring were sentenced to federal prison this week, announced U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson.
Noel Salto-Vivanco, 28, of Caldwell, was sentenced today to 87 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release based on his February 28th guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and marijuana. His mother, Francisca Salto-Flores, 47, also of Caldwell, was sentenced on Monday to 13 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Both appeared before U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge at the federal courthouse in Boise.
According to court records, Noel Salto-Vivanco worked with his brother, Juan Salto- Vivanco, to distribute methamphetamine and marijuana. Juan Salto-Vivanco was sentenced earlier this month to federal prison. Francisca Salto-Flores, who pleaded guilty on May 9, admitted in her plea agreement that during a February 25, 2010, telephone conversation with her son and co-defendant, Juan Salto-Vivanco, she weighed seven grams of methamphetamine at his request. She also admitted that she later delivered the methamphetamine to another individual.
Five co-conspirators will serve time in federal prison on related drug trafficking charges. Sentenced earlier this month were Jose Cirilo-Duran, of Weiser, to 27 months; and Juan Salto-Vivanco and Juan Ramirez-Bolanos, both of Caldwell, to 108 months and 115 months, respectively. Two co-defendants, Fernando Luna-Rodriguez of California, and Ricardo Payan- Beltran, a Mexican national, each received a 30 month sentence in June.
The indictment charging 13 individuals was the result of a joint investigation of the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), led by the Drug Enforcement Administration, in conjunction with the Nampa City Police Department.
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.
Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is a collaborative effort by federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and communities to prevent and deter gun violence.
