Four Eastern Idaho Men Arrested On Gun And Drug Dealing Charges

POCATELLO - Keith Laudric Finn, 46, of Idaho Falls, Idaho, Sergio Garcia, 25, of Rigby, Idaho, Fernando Montiel, 52, of St. Anthony, Idaho, and Juan Carlos Nunez-Mascareno, 36, of Rexburg, Idaho, were arrested this week on drug and gun related charges, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. An arrest warrant is outstanding for Uriel Garcia, 29, of Sugar City, Idaho. Federal indictments were filed in United States District Court in Boise on July 9, 2014, and in Pocatello on July 22, 2014.

One indictment alleges that Finn, previously convicted in Bonneville County, Idaho, of unlawful possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, unlawfully possessed three handguns and distributed methamphetamine three times between January and May 2014.

The second indictment alleges that Sergio and Uriel Garcia conspired to distribute methamphetamine and that Sergio Garcia distributed methamphetamine six times between September 4 and October 23, 2013, once with the assistance of Uriel Garcia.

A third indictment alleges that Montiel distributed methamphetamine on May 15 and June 12, 2014.

The fourth indictment alleges that Nunez-Mascareno distributed methamphetamine six times between October 2013 and January 2014.

The case is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office, the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office, the Madison County Sheriff’s Office, and the Department of Homeland Security Investigations.

The maximum penalty upon convictions for conspiracy to distribute and distribution of methamphetamine is life in prison and a $10,000,000 maximum fine. The maximum penalty upon a conviction for unlawful possession of a firearm is ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

An indictment is a means of charging a person with criminal activity. It is not evidence. The person is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The case was prosecuted as part of Idaho’s Project Safe Neighborhoods Program, which seeks to reduce gun violence in Idaho. The case 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, U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Canyon County Narcotics Unit, Meridian Police Department, Ada County Sheriff’s Office, Idaho State Police, and the Mini-Cassia Drug Task Force. Other federal agencies participating in the OCDETF program include the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, and U.S. Marshals Service.

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.