California man sentenced to federal prison for trafficking meth and guns in eastern Idaho
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POCATELLO – A 41-year-old man was sentenced to prison after importing and distributing methamphetamine in eastern Idaho in exchange for firearms.
Ramon Morales Jr., of Compton, California, was sentenced to 26 years in federal prison on Aug. 14 by Senior U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill, according to a news release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Morales pleaded guilty to felony possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and felony importation of methamphetamine.
According to court records, Morales was initially arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol when he was caught trying to smuggle two pounds of methamphetamine into the United States from Mexico at the San Ysidro Port of Entry on April 7, 2021.
While Morales was pending those charges, he supplied large amounts of methamphetamine and other drugs to local drug distributors Lynne Marie Boswell, 52, of Pocatello, and Jenny June Manzanares, 40, of Rexburg.
Boswell and Manzanares obtained firearms on Morales’s behalf by using a network of straw purchasers in exchange for the drugs.
According to the news release, “a straw purchaser is an individual who knowingly purchases firearms intending to provide them to someone else in violation of federal law.”
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) estimates at least 250 firearms were trafficked through this illegal drug trafficking organization.
The firearms purchased by these straw purchasers have been found at crime scenes in Idaho and states across the region.
On July 27, 2021, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), ATF, and local agency task force officers learned that Morales arranged to purchase 12 firearms from a gun store in Idaho Falls using a straw purchaser.
Investigators intercepted the firearms during the transaction, eventually seizing 15 pounds of methamphetamine.
Officials also arrested Jonathan Ramirez-Gutierrez, 29, of Los Angeles, for drug trafficking during this event.
According to the news release, there was evidence Morales directed Ramirez-Gutierrez to transport the methamphetamine to Idaho and to return to California with firearms.
In January 2023, Winmill sentenced Boswell to over 15 years in federal prison for her role in the drug and gun trafficking conspiracy. In March 2023, Manzanares was sentenced to 10 years for her role in the offense. In August 2022, Ramirez-Gutierrez was sentenced to over eight years in federal prison.
“This series of cases, and the resulting sentences, reflect success in our ongoing battle to disrupt the flow of illegal drugs and illegally-obtained firearms into and out of Idaho,” says U.S. Attorney Hurwit in the news release. “I am grateful for the work of our many law enforcement partners in this investigation, which led to dismantling a very dangerous criminal operation.”
Hurwit thanked the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), Idaho State Police, Bannock County Sheriff’s Office, Pocatello Police Department, Fort Hall Police Department, Bingham County Sheriff’s Office, Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office, and the Idaho Falls Police Department for their collaboration on the investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Blythe H. McLane prosecuted these cases during her prior role as the U.S. Attorney Office’s specially-deputized Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (SAUSA), funded by the Eastern Idaho Partnership (EIP) and the State of Idaho.
The EIP is a coalition of local city and county officials in eastern Idaho and the Idaho Department of Correction. The EIP SAUSA program allows law enforcement to utilize the federal criminal justice system – through the EIP SAUSA – to prosecute, convict, and sentence violent, armed criminals and drug traffickers. These criminals often receive stiffer penalties than they might in state courts.
This program was created in January 2016. Since then, approximately 200 defendants have been indicted by the EIP SAUSA. Of these defendants, 146 have been indicted on drug trafficking charges.
The defendants indicted under the program have been sentenced to 10,525 months (approximately 877 years) in federal prison, representing an average prison sentence of 57.6 months (4.8 years).
Defendants indicted for drug trafficking offenses serve, on average, approximately 64 months (5.33 years) in federal prison.