May 05, 2005

District Judge Steven Verby sentenced Joel Bordeaux to a term of not less than 3 years nor more than 8 years, in the custody of the Idaho Department of Corrections. Bordeaux made a conditional plea of guilt to the offense of trafficking in marijuana for his part in a scheme to illegally transport about 11 pounds of marijuana from the Creston, B.C. area to Boundary County and elsewhere.

Bordeaux was apprehended due to alert observations made by the United States Customs officers at the Porthill Port of Entry and then a stop on the highway by Peter Shepard of the United States Border Patrol. Shepard was backed up by various officers of the Border Patrol, the Boundary County Sheriff's Office and officers of the Idaho State Police.

Boundary County Prosecuting Attorney Jack Douglas handled the case from start to finish. He said a lot of work was put into the case, which involved preparation for hearings and then many hours of preparation for the trial. That preparation and willingness to try the case, Douglas said forced the hand of the defense and ultimately made them plead guilty. He said: "This was never a case we could plea bargain in good conscience. It was a solid case involving excellent police work, good cooperation between agencies, and frankly is a part of our effort to stiffen at the international border. Our goal is to make the border less attractive to drug dealers. We do that in cases like this by taking a hard line and sticking to it, as we did here. There was no plea bargain, and Mr. Bordeaux pled guilty knowing he had no deal from the prosecutor."

At sentencing, Douglas recommended not less than 4 years nor more than 8 years in prison. He said the tough sentence was warranted because the pre-sentence report failed to show any remorse at all by Mr. Bordeaux. Douglas said it appeared Bordeaux was instead defiant and trying to maintain that he ought to be able to do this if he chose. Douglas said the facts indicated that Bordeaux did this for profit, which he told the Court is exactly why we have a law against this type of activity. Douglas said he maintains this is not the victimless crime that Bordeaux tried to portray it as.

Douglas said: "People tell us they want us to be tough on border smugglers. I think we have done that quite well the last year or two. It bears repeating that our policy is to not negotiate border cases as a general rule. We seldom deviate from that."

Bordeaux filed an appeal, which will wind its way through the appellate court system as the law so holds. Douglas said he is confident that the ultimate result will sustain this prosecution.