U.S. Attorney Joshua D. Hurwit | U.S. Department of Justice
Jeremy Orvil Johnson, a 37-year-old resident of Blackfoot, has been sentenced to over six years in federal prison for distributing fentanyl and methamphetamine. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit.
Court records indicate that on January 11, 2024, law enforcement officers stopped Johnson for speeding and not displaying a license plate. Before stopping the vehicle, officers observed him throwing an item from the car onto the roadside. They later found a sock in the snow containing 347 grams of fentanyl and 39.6 grams of methamphetamine.
Senior U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill sentenced Johnson to serve an additional five years of supervised release after his prison term. Johnson had pleaded guilty to the charges in September 2024.
U.S. Attorney Hurwit praised the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office for their investigation efforts leading to these charges. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Zoie Laggis prosecuted the case.
The case was managed by a specially deputized Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (SAUSA) from the U.S. Attorney's Office, funded by the Eastern Idaho Partnership (EIP) and the State of Idaho—a coalition involving local city and county officials in Eastern Idaho along with the Idaho Department of Correction.
The EIP SAUSA program facilitates law enforcement's use of federal criminal justice systems to prosecute violent criminals and drug traffickers, often resulting in harsher penalties than state courts might impose.
Since its inception in January 2016, approximately 175 defendants have been indicted through this program, with 152 facing drug trafficking charges. Collectively, these defendants have received sentences totaling about 903 years in federal prison, averaging around six years per sentence for drug trafficking offenses.
