POCATELLO – Ruben Moreno Sanchez, 35, of Boise, Idaho, pleaded guilty today in United States District Court to possession with intent to distribute fifty grams or more of actual methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced.

According to the plea agreement, on August 7, 2011, a bail bondsman contacted Sanchez at a Boise motel. During that contact, Moreno told the bail bondsman that he had a pound of methamphetamine in his motel room, and that he was going to sell it to pay the balance he owed on his bond. That information was subsequently relayed to law enforcement, who executed a search warrant on Moreno's room. During the search, officers found 134.7 grams of actual methamphetamine. Moreno admitted that he possessed the methamphetamine with the intention of distributing it.

The charge is punishable by a mandatory minimum of ten years and up to life in prison, a maximum fine of $10 million, and at least five years of supervised release. The United States is seeking forfeiture of assets derived from the offense, including vehicles and a handgun.

Sentencing is set for September 17, 2012, before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill at the federal courthouse in Pocatello.

The indictment was the result of a joint investigation of the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), including the Idaho State Police, Boise Police Department, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

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.