Cocaine Dealer Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison

BOISE – William Charles Jones, 34, of St. Louis, Missouri, was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison for his involvement in the distribution of cocaine in Idaho, U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced today.

According to court records, Jones was a high-volume cocaine distributor in the treasure valley.  He would travel to Missouri to purchase kilos of cocaine, ship the cocaine to himself at a residence in Idaho, and then distribute the cocaine into the community through several mid-level distributors. On one occasion, Jones traveled to Canada, purchased two kilos of cocaine, and shipped it to himself in Idaho.  Through the efforts of Customs and Border Protection and the Drug Enforcement Administration, that shipment was seized at the U.S./Canadian border.

After his indictment, investigators executed a federal search warrant at his residence and located a workstation in his garage consisting of a scale, packaging material, and a heat sealer.  Investigators also found one and a half kilos of cocaine in brick form, an additional five one-ounce bundles of cocaine, several psilocybin mushrooms bars, and sixteen unlawfully possessed firearms strategically placed throughout the residence to afford him quick access to a firearm in the event he needed to protect his drugs or illicit proceeds.

U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill also ordered Jones to serve four years of supervised release following his prison sentence.

U.S. Attorney Davis commended the work of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Nampa Police Department Special Investigations Unit, the Ada County Sheriff’s Office, the Boise Police Department, the Meridian Police Department, Customs and Border Protection, and the United States Postal Inspection Service, which led to the charges and arrest.  Assistant U.S. Attorney David Morse prosecuted this case.

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