A 20-year-old Hailey man was sentenced to seven years in prison on Thursday for selling methamphetamine to a confidential informant.
Juan Carlos Hurtado leaves behind a wife and a 4-year-old son. He must spend three years in prison before he is eligible for parole.
"I hate to send anyone your age to the penitentiary," 5th District Court Judge Robert J. Elgee told the defendant. "It's not a decision that I make lightly."
Hurtado was the eighth drug dealer to be sentenced to prison or jail following a major Blaine County Drug bust last April. He was one of 13 suspects indicted by a Blaine County grand jury in the aftermath of the bust.
In a related matter, Jorge Flores-Quintana, another of the indicted suspects, was finally arraigned Thursday afternoon on two drug charges. Flores-Quintana, 32, is serving a prison sentence at the Idaho state penitentiary, and is the brother of Gustavo Flores-Quintana, a 30-year-old Hailey man murdered execution-style on Nov. 8 near the Big Wood River about a mile north of Gooding.
Gooding County authorities have termed the murder a "drug deal gone bad," but do not believe the slaying of Gustavo Flores-Quintana is related to his brother. Authorities are seeking two men who they believe committed the murder, but fear have fled to Mexico.
Juan Carlos Hurtado
Hurtado, who has been free on bail since a few days after his arrest in April, appeared in court in civilian clothes. His 4-year-old son sat on his lap prior to the start of his hearing.
His wife cried when sentence was pronounced, and Hurtado looked at her wistfully for several moments as he was led from the court in handcuffs.
Defense attorney Douglas Werth requested that his client be sentenced to a 180-day rider, which typically involves incarceration at the North Idaho Correctional Institution in Cottonwood, where evaluation and treatment is available for drug addiction.
Werth acknowledged that his client has a history of drug and alcohol abuse but has never received treatment.
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Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Matt Fredback pointed out that Hurtado had been in trouble with the law on several occasions and was on probation for possession of cocaine when he was arrested for selling methamphetamine to a confidential informant.
Hurtado pleaded guilty to delivery of methamphetamine in September as part of a plea agreement with the prosecutor's office.
Werth argued that Hurtado sold only a "relatively small amount of drugs" and has a good job and a family to care for, and requested that the defendant be given the chance to straighten out his life through drug rehabilitation such as that offered at Cottonwood.
"I think sending him straight to prison is a waste," Werth said.
But Elgee said that given Hurtado's prior felony conviction, he had little choice but to send him to prison.
The judge described selling methamphetamine as "a bigger failure than what you were on probation for."
"Delivery weighs heavily against the rider program," Elgee said.
Jorge Flores-Quintana
Flores-Quintana was formally charged with single felony counts of delivery of methamphetamine and failure to affix drug tax stamps to his goods.
The defendant is currently serving 15 years in prison for a 2000 Gooding County conviction for illegal possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and four years on a 2007 escape conviction. He has been held at a maximum-security wing of the state penitentiary near Boise.
Flores-Quintana was transported to Blaine County for his arraignment and will be held here for at least another 10 days to attend a plea hearing on Dec. 10.
The defendant, a native of Mexico, told Elgee he speaks English but doesn't read it. A Spanish-speaking interpreter helped him with court documents and made sure he understood what was said in court. His immigration status was not clear.
Elgee granted the defendant's request for a public defender, but who that will be was not specified in court Thursday.
