BOISE – Monica Martinez, 43, of Wilder, Idaho, pled guilty yesterday in United States District Court in Boise to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. Co-defendant Daniel Pena, 33, of Caldwell, Idaho, pled guilty to a superseding information charging him with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession and discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

According to court records and the defendants' admissions in court, from May 20, 2009, to August 12, 2011, Martinez conspired with other individuals to distribute in excess of 500 grams of methamphetamine, and from August 1 to August 12, 2011, Pena conspired to distribute in excess of 50 grams of methamphetamine in the Treasure Valley.

Martinez is scheduled to be sentenced on April 16, 2012, before U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge at the federal courthouse in Boise. She faces a minimum term of 10 years to life in prison, a maximum fine of $10 million, and at least five years of supervised release.

Pena is scheduled to be sentenced on April 17. The drug trafficking charge carries a minimum term of 10 years to life in prison, a maximum fine of $8 million, and at least eight years of supervised release. The firearm charge carries a minimum term of 10 years to life in prison, consecutive to the drug trafficking count, a maximum fine of $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release.

The three remaining co-defendants are charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and other related firearm and drug charges. Armando Jason Saltzer, 34, of Nampa, Idaho, Shane Kenneth Brizendine, 37, of Wilder, Idaho, and Mario Bautista, 35, a Mexican national, are scheduled for trial on February 21, 2012, before Judge Lodge at the federal courthouse in Boise.

The case was investigated by the Treasure Valley Metro Violent Crimes Task Force, one of 160 Safe Streets task forces nationwide in which local, state and federal law enforcement agencies combine their resources and expertise to address gangs and other public safety issues across traditional jurisdictional boundaries throughout the Treasure Valley.