News Release [print friendly page]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 14, 2008
Contact: Jodie Underwood
Number: (206) 553-1162

Treasure Valley Man Gets 32 Years for Meth Trafficking

AUG 14 -- (BOISE, ID) – DEA Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Arnold R. Moorin and the United States Attorney for the District of Idaho, Thomas E. Moss, announced that Graciano Marquez-Huazo was sentenced on August 13, 2008 to 32 years in federal prison for trafficking in methamphetamine.

Special Agent Arnold R. Moorin stated, “It is time for Marquez-Huazo to reap the rewards and legal consequences of his hard work as a large scale methamphetamine cell-head in the state of Idaho. As a result of his illegal actions, he has received 32 years in prison, and we believe that this is a fitting punishment for the crimes he has committed against the many communities in the state of Idaho.”

In mid-2007, Marquez-Huazo was the leader of a large scale organization that was responsible for distributing multi-pounds of methamphetamine to Treasure Valley. Unbeknownst to Marquez-Huazo, his organization was under investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Idaho State Police.

On October 29, 2007, Juan Manuel Santoyo, a member of Marquez-Huazo’s organization was arrested with approximately four pounds of methamphetamine. The following day, Marquez-Huazo, Eduardo Frias Cobos, Tomas Gonzalez Roldan, and Judith Islas drove from California to Nampa, Idaho, where they were arrested as they attempted to deliver nine pounds of methamphetamine. At the time of Marquez-Huazo’s arrest he was found to be in possession of a loaded pistol.

In May 2008, a federal jury in Boise, Idaho found Marquez-Huazo, Frias Cobos, and Gonzalez Roldan guilty of conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and attempted possession of methamphetamine. The jury also found Marquez-Huazo guilty of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

The federal prosecution of this organization was part of U.S Attorney Tom Moss’s Idaho Methamphetamine Initiative, which seeks to increase the number of methamphetamine distributors prosecuted in federal court.