A 43-year-old Lewiston man was sentenced Friday to 10 years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
According to the U.S. District Attorney’s office, Richard Lee Black conspired with Helene Martensen, 51, and Adam Johnson, 34, both of Clarkston, to distribute methamphetamine in the Lewiston area.
Lewiston Police detectives assigned to the Quad Cities Drug Task Force arrested Black in January 2020 when he was found in possession of distribution quantities of methamphetamine, empty baggies, a digital scale and cash. In June 2020, after a collaborative effort, the FBI North Idaho Crime Take Force stopped the vehicle of Martensen and Johnson and seized about two pounds of methamphetamine, the district attorney’s office said.
Key evidence was obtained through FBI search warrants for cellphones and cellphone records. These records showed the effort of each conspirator to sell illegal drugs and firearms in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley and on the Nez Perce reservation.
Martensen was sentenced March 17, 2021 to 90 months in federal prison. Johnson is scheduled to be sentenced April 12.
Chief U.S. District Judge David C. Nye also ordered Black to serve five years of supervised release following his prison sentence. Black pleaded guilty to the charge in October.
U.S. Attorney Rafael M. Gonzalez Jr. commended the cooperative efforts of the FBI, Nez Perce County prosecutor’s office, Lewiston Police Department, Nez Perce Tribal Police, Idaho State Police, Nez Perce County Sheriff’s Office, Clarkston Police Department, Asotin and Whitman county sheriff’s offices and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that led to the charges.
The Quad Cities Drug Task Force is a multi-jurisdictional group of law enforcement officers working together to target drug trafficking in Lewiston, Moscow, Clarkston and Pullman.
