TWO MEN SENTENCED IN METH CASE

Gregorio Camacho-Paniagua, 21, of Infiernillo, Michoacan, Mexico, was sentenced on Monday by U.S. District Court Judge Edward J. Lodge in Boise, Idaho, for conspiracy to distribute/possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Camacho-Paniagua was sentenced to 90 months in federal prison. Camacho-Paniagua pled guilty to the charges in April 2009.

His co-defendant, Juan Bernardo Paniagua-Pacheco, 26, also of Infiernillo, Michoacan, Mexico, was sentenced in Boise, Idaho, on June 24, 2009, by visiting U.S. District Court Judge Brian T. Stewart (Utah) for the same crime. Paniagua-Pacheco was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison. Paniagua-Pacheco pled guilty to the charges in March 2009.

The two defendants are cousins. Upon completion of their prison terms, both will be deported to Mexico.

An investigation conducted by the Ada County Sheriff’s Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration in August 2008 revealed that the defendants were transporting liquid methamphetamine from Marietta, Georgia, to Idaho, in a 1995 Honda Accord. During the investigation, an undercover narcotics officer met with the defendants who were video taped removing the methamphetamine from the radiator overflow and windshield washer fluid containers in the engine compartment. The defendants were in the process of extracting the methamphetamine from the liquid when they were arrested.

U.S. Attorney Tom Moss said, “This case demonstrates that meth continues to be a blight on Idaho, not only for the damage it causes to people who use it and their families, but the demand also creates a market which leads to the importation of meth by illegal aliens.”