Two Women Sentenced for Roles in Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine

BOISE - Sara Beth Cummings, 36, of Boise, Idaho, and Candelaria Sanchez, 43, of Las Vegas, Nevada, were sentenced today in U.S. District Court for their roles in a drug trafficking conspiracy, U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced.  Senior U.S. District Court Judge Edward J. Lodge sentenced Cummings to 21 months, and Sanchez to 84 months, in prison.  Judge Lodge also ordered that both serve a period of supervised release after their prison sentences.

According to court records, between February and March 2018, Sanchez worked with others to distribute large quantities of methamphetamine in the Boise area.  Investigators learned that Sanchez was driving large loads of methamphetamine from Las Vegas to Boise, where she delivered it to a dealer who was living with Cummings.  On March 15, 2018, investigators stopped Sanchez outside of Cummings’ home, seizing 13 pounds of methamphetamine from her vehicle.  In Cummings’ home, officers found more methamphetamine and over $40,000 in cash.  Investigators determined that Cummings allowed her home to be used to conceal the drug trafficking conspiracy.

In July of this year, Sanchez pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.  In September of this year, Cummings pled guilty to misprision of a felony.

The case was the result of a joint investigation by the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), which includes the cooperative law enforcement efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Drug Enforcement Administration; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations; Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation; and the U.S. Marshals Service.  Along with the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Nampa Police Department, Boise Police Department, Ada County Sheriff’s Office, and Meridian Police Department investigated the case.

The OCDETF program is a federal multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force that supplies supplemental federal funding to federal and state agencies.  The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply.

This case was prosecuted by the Special Assistant U.S. Attorney hired by the Ada County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and the Idaho High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Board.  The Idaho High Intensity Drug Trafficking Board is a collaboration of local law enforcement drug task forces and prosecuting agencies dedicated to addressing regional drug trafficking organizations that operate in Ada and Canyon County.