Former prosecutor Robin Dunn gets plea deal on drug trafficking charges
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IDAHO FALLS — A former Jefferson County prosecutor is expected to plead guilty after being indicted on federal drug charges last year.
According to a plea agreement filed Tuesday, Robin Dunn, 68, has agreed to plead guilty to count one in his indictment, conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine, in return for the prosecution agreeing to drop all other counts and recommend a sentence of 42 months, or three and a half years, in prison.
Possible punishments for the crime include up to 20 years in prison, at least three years of supervised release, and a maximum fine of $1 million.
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Dunn initially pleaded not guilty after being indicted in September on one federal count of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine, two counts of possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine and one count of distribution of methamphetamine.
According to a September 2023 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s office, from June 2022 to Feb. 19, 2023, “Dunn conspired with others to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine in eastern Idaho.”
The indictment says Dunn “knowingly and intentionally possessed fentanyl and methamphetamine, intending to distribute it to others” in October and November 2022.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office of Idaho says it does not have a comment on the case at this time but will likely comment once Dunn’s guilty plea is entered.
EastIdahoNews.com has contacted Dunn’s attorneys but has not received a response. We will update if we hear back.
A change of plea hearing has not yet been scheduled.
Dunn admits to drug trafficking, conspiracy to get drugs into the Bonneville County Jail
The plea agreement says Dunn admits that he, along with three unnamed co-conspirators, agreed to “distribute controlled substances.”
Dunn traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada, and Salt Lake City, Utah, multiple times with the co-conspirators to obtain fentanyl and methamphetamine and bring them back to Idaho to distribute.
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The agreement says Dunn “caused fentanyl to be distributed into a correctional facility (the Bonneville County Jail)” to one of the co-conspirators, who was an inmate and legal client of his.
“(Dunn) agrees he abused a position of trust by using his position as an attorney to further his drug trafficking activities,” says the plea agreement.
Background
Dunn was arrested on Feb. 17, 2023 after officers were called to the Shari’s parking lot in Idaho Falls around 8:45 p.m. for a report that a woman had been “nodding off” in the restaurant and looked to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
They said she was now in a car with a man in the parking lot, and they were worried that she would try to drive. Police arrived at the restaurant and found the car running.
They identified the driver as Vivian Exler and the passenger as Dunn. Court records show Dunn was originally Exler’s attorney, but since his arrest, he was removed from her case.
Dunn had approximately 60 counterfeit pills, commonly known as “dirty thirties,” which contain fentanyl, according to Idaho Falls Police Department spokesperson Jessica Clements.
He also allegedly had eight Xanax pills and four Alprazolam pills, which are controlled substances and require a prescription.
During Dunn’s preliminary hearing, Officer Matthew Matherly with the Idaho Falls Police Department said although the inside of the car was clean, there were multiple items of drug paraphernalia out in the open.
“The vehicle was relatively clean, there wasn’t junk or clutter or anything of that nature, but on the floorboard behind the driver’s seat, I saw a red straw with a burnt end, along with a roll of aluminum foil in the box on the rear passenger side of the vehicle,” said Matherly. “Both of those items are indicators to me of narcotics use.”
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Other officers said that during a later search of the car, they found a check made out to Exler from Dunn for a total of $7,900.
Dunn refused to consent to a search and identified himself as a lawyer. Mathery then patted him down and discovered packaged Narcan in his left front shirt pocket. Narcan is a medication used to reverse an opioid overdose.
Officers eventually were able to search Dunn after telling him he would be going to jail and would receive additional charges if he got there and was found with illegal substances.
Matherly says they found a straw and burnt tin foil in his pants pocket and multiple baggies of fentanyl pills or “dirty 30s”, along with a blue medicine bottle containing Xanax, in his boot.
He posted bail and was released on Feb. 20.
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The local charges were later dismissed, and Dunn was indicted federally. He was then arrested for a second time at his home in Rigby by federal agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and booked into the Cassia County Jail.
Dunn was the city attorney for Roberts and Ririe until March 2023. He served as the Rigby City Attorney for nearly three decades before stepping down in 2022.
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He worked as the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney for 34 years before retiring in 2016.