Pocatello man sentenced to 16 years for federal drug and firearms charges

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) — A local man will spend more than a decade in federal prison after being convicted of trafficking methamphetamine, LSD, and Psilocybin mushrooms in eastern Idaho. U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced Monday that Kacey Franklin James has been sentenced to 16 years in federal prison.

The sentence stems from the findings of a 2023 Idaho State Police investigation. In October 2023, the investigators executed a search warrant on James’ Pocatello home, where they found a cache of illegal substances, including;

• 2.5 pounds of methamphetamine
• 1.23 pounds of MDMA
• 7.53 grams of LSD
• Psilocybin mushrooms and various other illicit substances

Along with the drugs, officers also recovered 14 firearms, including one reportedly stolen and two shortbarreled shotguns that were not properly registered to James.

In January, a jury found James guilty of three counts of Possession with Intent to distribute, two counts of Possession of an Unregistered Firearm, and one count of Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Offense.

Monday, May 11, U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill sentenced James to 192 months in federal prison, ordered him to pay a $500 fine, and imposed a five-year term of supervised release following his prison
sentence.

In a news release, U.S. Attorney Davis commended the work of the Idaho State Police, along with the assistance of the BADGES Task Force, which led to the charges.