Boise Man Sentenced to 6 Years for Distributing Methamphetamine

BOISE - Benjamin Michael Elgethun, 34, of Boise, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 72 months in prison for distribution of methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced today. Chief U.S. District Judge David C. Nye also ordered Elgethun to serve five years of supervised release following his prison sentence. Elgethun pleaded guilty to the charge on January 29, 2020.

According to court records, Elgethun was a methamphetamine dealer in the Boise area between March and June 2019. Law enforcement used a confidential informant to purchase methamphetamine from Elgethun on multiple occasions. A federal grand jury indicted Elgethun on June 13, 2019. A search warrant was later executed on Elgethun’s residence where officers found more drugs and a stolen firearm. Elgethun has a lengthy criminal history including a prior conviction for aggravated battery and trafficking in cocaine. At the time he committed this federal offense, Elgethun was on parole.

This case was investigated by the Meridian Police Department, Ada County Sheriff’s Office, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

This indictment was the result of a joint investigation by the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). 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. Program participants include 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 U.S. Marshals Service.

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, Canyon, and Malheur County.