FATHER AND SON PLEAD GUILTY IN FEDERAL COURT

Treasure Valley residents Alfredo Esparza, Sr., and his son, Lucio Esparza, have pled guilty to federal charges, U.S. Attorney Tom Moss announced on Thursday.

The 58-year-old Alfredo Esparza, Sr., pled guilty in May to several counts of methamphetamine trafficking as well as firearms charges. He is scheduled for sentencing on September 29, 2008, before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of least twenty years up to life in prison.

On Wednesday, Lucio Esparza, 26, pled guilty to two counts of distributing methamphetamine and two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm. His sentencing is set for October 29, 2008. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of at least five years, but could be sentenced to as much as eighty years imprisonment.

Both men were arrested in the early morning hours of December 6, 2007, when federal agents and local law enforcement officers raided their homes in Nampa and Caldwell. The arrests came after an extensive investigation into their drug trafficking activities by the Treasure Valley Metro Violent Crimes Task Force, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Ada and Canyon County Sheriff’s Offices, and the Caldwell, Nampa, Meridian, and Boise City Police Departments.