Richard McCollough Sentenced to 97 Months and Timothy Landon Sentenced to 41 Months for Drug Trafficking Crimes
BOISE - This week, two more former IDOC correctional officers were sentenced for committing drug trafficking crimes as part of a public corruption sting operation, U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced. U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill sentenced Richard McCollough, 37, to 97 months in prison and Timothy Landon, 36, to 41 months in prison. Both will be placed on supervised release for three years after their release from prison.
The case stems from a sting operation initiated by the FBI at IDOC’s request to weed out corruption among IDOC correctional officers. The FBI was able to locate corrupt prison guards by using undercover agents who invited the guards to commit crimes outside of IDOC’s facilities. The defendants believed that the undercover agents they were assisting were large‑scale drug traffickers. The guards provided security and completed other tasks for the undercover agents during staged deliveries of drug loads and drug money. No drugs were in the sole possession of the defendants, and no drugs or other contraband were brought into any IDOC facility as part of these operations.
McCollough pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. He joined Landon and co-defendant Erik Thompson, 37, in several operations for the purported drug trafficking organization. This included participating in moving large quantities of drugs and counting large amounts of cash that were delivered to the purported drug trafficking organization.
Landon pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to aid and abet drug trafficking. He participated in one major operation with McCollough and Thompson before splitting off to conduct other operations with co-defendant Robert Wallin, 36, who was sentenced to 37 months in prison on Feb. 21, 2019.
Thompson is scheduled to be sentenced on April 7, 2019 before Judge Winmill at the federal courthouse in Boise.
In addition to the FBI, the Boise Police Department, the Meridian Police Department, IDOC’s Special Investigations Unit, and the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office participated in the investigation.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
