Acting U.S. Attorney Justin Whatcott said that a 44-year-old Honduran national known as “Hector Ojeda Manuel Aponte” was sentenced to 262 months in federal prison yesterday for methamphetamine distribution.
Aponte distributed about 40 pounds of methamphetamine every one to two weeks, along with fentanyl tablets and bath salts, according to court filings. Aponte had several cars to transport and distribute drugs, stash houses to hide the drugs, and business fronts to launder his illegal drug revenues. Aponte was the Sinaloa Cartel’s “number one guy” in Idaho, according to various sources. He had a well-established supply chain and a distribution network composed of other accomplices.
Aponte is the sixth and final defendant to be sentenced following an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Nampa Police Department Special Investigations Unit. U.S. District Judge Amanda K. Brailsford has previously sentenced Ernesto Diaz Gaspar (30 months in jail), Wilkin Rolando Martinez Munguia (36 months in prison), Cevin Alfonzo Martinez (42 months in prison), and Jesus DeJesus Loera (70 months in prison). Lawrence Barnes was sentenced by Chief US District Judge David C. Nye to 160 months in prison. Defendants Barnes and Loera are American citizens, while the remaining defendants are illegal immigrants.
“The United States Department of Justice is committed to eliminating the threat posed by Mexican drug cartels and their distribution of narcotics in Idaho.” Acting U.S. Attorney Whatcott said. “Along with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners, we will continue to hold them accountable for bringing poisonous drugs into our state.”
“Illegal immigration and drug trafficking are interconnected threats because Foreign Terrorist Organizations like the Sinaloa Cartel routinely employ people like this defendant to further their drug enterprises,” said David F. Reames, Special Agent in Charge, DEA Seattle Field Division. “I am gratified that we, at the Drug Enforcement Administration, along with our partners at the Nampa Police Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, succeeded in holding this defendant accountable for his serious crimes targeting our community, resulting in this lengthy prison sentence. Justice was served yesterday.”
Acting U.S. Attorney Whatcott praised the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Nampa Police Department’s Special Investigations Unit for their efforts in obtaining the convictions and punishments. David Morse, an assistant US attorney, prosecuted this case.