Pocatello men sentenced for trying to sell fentanyl in candy boxes
Published at
POCATELLO –- Two Pocatello men were sentenced for drug trafficking fentanyl inside candy boxes.
According to a news release from the Pocatello Police Department and the United States Attorney’s Office, Andrew George Haney, 41, and Anthony Michael Stratton, 35, were sentenced to federal prison for conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.
According to court records, in May 2023, Stratton gave Haney the money to transport 2,000 fentanyl pills from California to Idaho. Haney then concealed the drugs in candy boxes.
The Pocatello Police Department perfomed a traffic stop on their car and located the pills, which were later determined to be fentanyl.
Stratton was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge David C. Nye to 44 months in federal prison on Dec. 5. His sentence will be served concurrent to a 5-year fixed sentence plus 10 years indeterminate from a Bannock County fentanyl distribution case.
Once released from his state sentence, Stratton will serve a 3-year term of federal supervised release.
On April 23, Judge Nye sentenced Haney to 70 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release.
“U.S. Attorney Hurwit commended the investigation by the Pocatello Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration, with further assistance from the Idaho State Police and the Bannock County Sheriff’s Office, which led to the charges,” says the release. “Assistant U.S. Attorney Blythe H. McLane, a former Special Assistant United States Attorney, prosecuted the case as part of the Eastern Idaho Partnership.”
The BADGES Task Force is a collaboration of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies that focuses primarily on drug trafficking crimes in Bannock County and throughout the region. This case was handled by the U.S, according to the release.
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 as well as the Idaho Department of Correction.
The EIP SAUSA program allows law enforcement to use 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 that time, approximately 175 defendants have been indicted by the EIP SAUSA. Of these defendants, 152 have been indicted on drug trafficking charges.
The defendants indicted under the program have been sentenced to 10,769 months (approximately 897.42 years) in federal prison, representing an average prison sentence of 74.79 months (6.23 years). Defendants indicted for drug trafficking offenses serve, on average, approximately 61.59 months (5.13 years) in federal prison.