Local and federal partnership targets felony crime
U.S. Attorney for Idaho Bart Davis says the Special Assistant United States Attorney Partnership with eastern Idaho counties has been a success.
Bannock County Prosecutor Stephen Herzog said the partnership exemplifies that good things happen when people work together. And Department of Correction Director Henry Atencio added, “the SAUSA program has had amazing success improving the community safety in Eastern Idaho.”
Davis and Bingham County Prosecutor Cleve Colson announced that between January 2016 and July 13, 2018, the U.S. Attorney’s Office had prosecuted an additional 105 offenders for firearm, illegal alien, child porn, violent crime, and drug-related crimes through the program in eastern Idaho.
65 of the 105 people charged have been convicted. The cases came from 14 cities and 10 counties. Those convicted received federal sentences for a total of 3,882 months, or an average 5 years per criminal sentence.
It is estimated the charges represent over $2.4 million in seized drugs and 73 illegally possessed firearms.
Right now, the average cost of jailing an Idaho prison inmate is $25,400 per year or $2,117 per month. The federal sentences, therefore, represents over $8.2 million in avoided expense if the Department of Correction were to bear the cost.
“The collaborative effort of the partners has been instrumental to community safety and the dismantling of criminal networks throughout Eastern Idaho,” said Bingham County Prosecuting Attorney Cleve Colson.
The Eastern Idaho Partnership sponsors the SAUSA program and provides about 30 percent of its salary and benefits. The state and Department of Correction contributes the remaining 70 percent.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the project allows law enforcement to utilize federal sentences to hand out stiffer penalties to persistent and violent criminals than they might otherwise get in state courts. The federal sentences are served in out-of-state facilities to help disrupt criminal networks.
