Two Men Plead Guilty To Federal Drug Related Charges In Idaho

POCATELLO – Juan Yuen-Rodriguez, 29, of Rupert, Idaho, pleaded guilty yesterday in United States District Court to distribution of methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. In the same case, Jesus Burgos, 52, of Lennox, California, pleaded guilty today to money laundering.

According to the plea agreements, on various dates, including August 14, 2013, Yuen-Rodriguez agreed with an undercover officer to deliver methamphetamine to the undercover officer in Heyburn, Idaho. While driving to the meeting, Yuen-Rodriguez, along with a co-defendant, were stopped by law enforcement. In a box in the back seat of the vehicle officers found 2,024 grams of actual methamphetamine. Additionally, on or about August 12, 2013, at the direction of others, Burgos deposited $4,400 into an account at a bank in Burley, Idaho. Burgos did this knowing that the $4,400 was, in fact, proceeds from the distribution of methamphetamine. The reason for Burgos defendant making this deposit was to disguise the true ownership of the $4,400, making it appear that it was Burgos’ money.

Yuen-Rodriguez’ charge is punishable by ten years to life in prison, a maximum fine of $10 million, and at least five years of supervised release. Burgos’ charge is punishable by twenty years in prison, a maximum fine of $500,000, and at least three years of supervised release.

The men are set for sentencing on August 13, 2014, before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill at the federal courthouse in Boise.

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.

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.