POCATELLO – On May 16, 2022, an Idaho Falls man was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison on drug trafficking and immigration charges. A federal jury convicted Jose Luis Cruz-Delgado, 29, at a trial held in November 2021. Senior U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill presided over the trial and imposed sentence.
According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Cruz-Delgado was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, one count of attempted possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine, and one count of deported alien found in the United States. On September 26, 2017, Cruz-Delgado and a co-conspirator were stopped in San Bernardino, California, with 28 pounds of methamphetamine. Cruz-Delgado admitted the methamphetamine was his. He also admitted he was returning to Idaho Falls. He was later released on bond following his California arrest.
Cruz-Delgado subsequently continued trafficking methamphetamine to Idaho from California up until his arrest in Idaho in August 2018. Evidence at trial showed that, during the course of the conspiracy, Cruz-Delgado was responsible for distributing over 30 to 40 pounds of methamphetamine through one of several co‑conspirators. When arrested in Idaho, Cruz-Delgado admitted to being previously deported from the United States.
U.S. Attorney Rafael M. Gonzalez Jr., of the District of Idaho made the announcement and commended the cooperative efforts of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations in Idaho Falls, Idaho State Police, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s, Enforcement and Removal Operations, and the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department which led to the charges.
This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
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