55 east Idaho criminals prosecuted under new program - East Idaho News
Crime Watch

55 east Idaho criminals prosecuted under new program

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The following is a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho.

POCATELLO — Acting United States Attorney Rafael Gonzalez and Bingham County Prosecuting Attorney Cleve B. Colson have announced that from January 2016 through July 26, 2017, the U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted an additional 55 offenders for firearm, illegal alien, child porn, violent crime, and drug-related crimes committed in eastern Idaho through the new Special Assistant United States Attorney program (SAUSA program) in eastern Idaho.

Thus far, 28 of the 55 charged have been convicted and received federal sentences for a total of 2,008 months, averaging 6.4 years per criminal sentence. The 55 cases indicted were referred from 13 cities and 9 counties. It is estimated that the charges represent over $800,000 in drugs seized and 30 illegally possessed firearms.

Presently, the average cost of incarceration per inmate per year is approximately $20,973, or $1,747 per month. Thus, the 2008 months of federal sentences in the cases represents approximately $3,500,000 in cost savings to the Idaho Department of Corrections if the Idaho Department of Corrections was to bear the costs.

Bryan Wheat, the current eastern Idaho SAUSA, was hired in February 2017. He is a Bingham County deputy prosecutor who works full-time in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Pocatello. His caseload focuses on gun and gang violence, drug trafficking, and immigration offenses affecting eastern Idaho.

Mr. Wheat has been practicing law for nearly five years. A native of Inkom, Idaho, Mr. Wheat graduated from Idaho State University before earning his law degree from the University of Idaho in 2012. He worked as a county prosecutor in Washington County, Utah, prior to returning to Pocatello. While there, he worked with a regional drug and gang task force handling felony cases consisting primarily of drug, violent crime, and gang cases. He also served as a Special Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Utah.

“Prosecution of these 55 offenders was made possible through the transcendent vision of the Eastern Idaho Partnership, the State of Idaho, the Bingham County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, as well as their prosecution partners in this office,” said Gonzalez. “We have always worked cooperatively to make our eastern Idaho communities safer and stronger. This program is the result of our history of working together. Moreover, the success of this program demonstrates that we can do more when we do it together. We are maximizing public safety and efficiently using taxpayer resources and look forward to continued success.”

“I’m grateful to Rafael Gonzalez, Cleve Colson, and the members of the Eastern Idaho Partnership for the opportunity to return home and be a part of this innovative project,” Wheat said. “This program is a thrifty, effective way to help keep our communities safe. By working together, the agencies and prosecutors involved in the Partnership are multiplying their effectiveness in combatting serious local criminal activity. This program represents the commitment and forward-thinking of those who work hard to keep eastern Idaho a safe place for our families.”

The Eastern Idaho SAUSA program is sponsored by the Eastern Idaho Partnership (EIP), a coalition of local city and county officials in eastern Idaho. The EIP provides approximately 30 percent of the SAUSA’s salary and benefits; the State of Idaho through the Idaho Department of Correction contributes the remaining 70 percent. The project allows law enforcement to utilize federal sentences to see that persistent and violent criminals receive stiffer penalties than they might in state courts. Federal sentences are served out of-of-state, helping to disrupt criminal networks. Special AUSA Wheat says “the net result we strive to achieve is to help eastern Idaho continue to be a wonderful, safe place to live.”

Chubbuck City Mayor Ken England stated, “The program is a strong and effective partnership. The dollars this program is saving is impressive but more important is the quality of life that is being promoted by getting these bad players out of our community.”

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