A major Blaine County drug dealer was sentenced to 10 years in prison Monday in 5th District Court in Hailey.
Sentence was pronounced on 30-year-old Tristar Peon Ontiveros, an illegal immigrant, by Judge Robert J. Elgee, who said, "I wish it could be less, but under the circumstances it can't be." Ontiveros must serve seven years in prison before he is eligible for parole.
Ontiveros is also under investigation for allegedly conspiring to murder a confidential drug informant, but Elgee said he did not consider those allegations in pronouncing sentence.
Blaine County Prosecuting Attorney Jim Thompson confirmed Friday that the investigation is still in progress.
"I will make a determination on how we proceed once the sentence is complete and I have additional investigation completed," Thomas wrote in a statement to the Idaho Mountain Express.
The murder conspiracy investigation arose following statements that Ontiveros allegedly made to other inmates in the Blaine County Jail.
Ontiveros was one of 13 suspects indicted in April by a Blaine County grand jury following a major drug bust on April 11 by the county's Narcotics Enforcement Team. Ten of the suspects have now pleaded guilty to reduced charges through plea agreements and another suspect was scheduled to plead guilty late Tuesday afternoon. Nine of the defendants have been sentenced to either prison or jail terms. Charges were dismissed against one suspect and are still pending against another.
Ontiveros, who was originally indicted on 10 felony charges, pleaded guilty in September to single counts of trafficking in methamphetamine and failure to affix a drug tax stamp to his goods.
Elgee said he was bound by state law to sentence the defendant to at least a five-year fixed term because of the large quantity of drugs that Ontiveros pleaded guilty to possessing for sale. The seven-year fixed term was in accord with a recommendation of the prosecuting attorney's office.
Deputy Prosecutor Matt Fredback described Ontiveros as someone "making a living selling meth." He said the defendant didn't use the drug and sold it only for profit.
Defense attorney Keith Roark argued that the five years required by state law was sufficient punishment for Ontiveros and pointed out that the defendant had no prior criminal record.
"This is not a case of someone who is an extensive criminal," Roark said. "Anyone who says that a five-year prison sentence is not severe does not know what they're talking about."
Roark said each prison inmate costs the state of Idaho between $35,000 and $50,000 per year.
"The moment he is released from the Idaho penitentiary he will be escorted to the border," Roark said. "It seems to me that the taxpayers don't need to spend another $70,000-$100,000 housing Mr. Ontiveros."
But Elgee said that the seven-year fixed sentence was justified.
"You have been involved in rather extensive activity here in Blaine County," Elgee told the defendant.
Lars Christian Nelson
Lars Christian Nelson, an 18-year-old Hailey man, was expected to plead guilty to a reduced charge late Tuesday afternoon. He was originally charged by the grand jury indictment with felony "aid and abet the delivery of cocaine."
The indictment alleges that Nelson was involved in a drug deal with William B. Smith, a 67-year-old Ketchum man who was also indicted by the grand jury and sentenced in November to one year in the Blaine County Jail. He earlier pleaded guilty to felony possession of cocaine.
Nelson was not named as a suspect in the April 11 drug raid, but was indicted later that month when the grand jury was convened.
The case against Nelson is being heard by District Court Judge Barry Wood, who was assigned the case after Elgee disqualified himself for reasons not specified in court documents.
Nelson, who is represented by Roark, has been free on $5,000 bond since shortly after his arrest.
Tristar Peon Ontiveros
Lars Christian Nelson
