78-year-old man sentenced to federal prison a second time for distributing meth
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The following is a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho.
BOISE — Clinton DeWitt Bays, Jr., 78, of Boise, was sentenced to 96 months in prison for distributing methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced today. Chief U.S. District Judge David C. Nye also ordered Bays to serve five years of supervised release following his prison sentence. Bays pleaded guilty on Oct. 28, 2019.
According to court records, Bays was arrested and charged with drug trafficking and possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine in state court on Dec. 31, 2017. On Jan. 11, 2018, Bays posted a $250,000 bond and was released from state custody. While out on bond in the state case, Bays sold methamphetamine to an undercover officer on three occasions. A federal grand jury indicted Bays on one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine on Feb. 14, 2018. Bays was detained and has been in federal custody since that time. A federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment on Dec. 12, 2018, charging Bays with selling methamphetamine to an undercover detective on Dec. 19, 2017, Jan. 14, 2018, Jan. 16, 2018, and Jan. 30, 2018. Bays admitted that on Jan. 30, 2018, he sold four ounces of methamphetamine to an undercover detective in exchange for $1,600.
Bays had previously been sentenced to federal prison for methamphetamine and gun charges in 2009. Bays pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and unlawful possession of a firearm, and was sentenced on March 13, 2009, to 78 months in prison and three years of supervised release. In 1992, Bays was convicted of two counts of vehicular manslaughter and aggravated driving while under the influence, ending his 26-year career as a Boise City Police Officer and Sergeant. On Jan. 11, 2007, the State of Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole pardoned Bays on the vehicular manslaughter and aggravated driving while under the influence.
This case was a result of a joint investigation by the Boise and Meridian Police Departments and the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). The OCDETF program is a federal multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force that supplies supplemental federal funding to federal and state agencies. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply. Program participants include Federal Bureau of Investigation; Drug Enforcement Administration; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations; Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation; and U.S. Marshals Service.