A 36-year-old local man received a unified 20-year prison sentence earlier this month after a jury found him guilty of trafficking methamphetamine and possessing fentanyl with the intent to deliver the illegal substance, court records show.

Honorato Cardona-Gonzalez, of American Falls, was charged with both felonies and a felony for unlawfully possessing a firearm by a convicted felon in December 2020 following a five-week narcotics investigation involving multiple Southeast Idaho law enforcement agencies.

The investigation resulted in local police conducting search warrants at two American Falls residences that resulted in the arrest of four local residents, according to court records.

Angel Star Flores, 37, Honorato Cardona-Gonzalez, Eddy Alejandro Gonzalez-Perez, 38, and Eric Cardona-Gonzalez, 31, were each charged with felony possession of methamphetamine and various other felony charges stemming from police allegedly locating firearms and narcotics within reach of small children during their search of two residences on the 300 block of Arthur Street in American Falls, police said

The charges against Flores were dismissed in March 2021 after she was federally indicted on charges of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances — 500 or more grams of meth, 500 or more grams of cocaine and 100 or more grams of heroin — and possession to distribute controlled substances, according to federal court records.

The charges against Eric Cardona-Gonzalez were dismissed entirely and he was not charged with any additional crimes at the federal level.

Gonzalez-Perez was charged with possession of meth and two counts of injury to a child, all felonies, following the investigation. He reached a plea agreement with local prosecutors in January 2021 that resulted in the two felony injury to a child charges being dismissed in exchange for him pleading guilty to the felony meth possession charge. He received a unified five-year prison sentence that was suspended and he was instead placed on felony probation for five years, court records show.

Honorato Cardona-Gonzalez did not take a plea deal and instead took his case to trial, with 6th District Judge Rick Carnaroli presiding. The trial lasted two days on Jan. 12 and Jan. 13 earlier this year.

During the trial, Power County Prosecutor Anson Call called two American Falls Police officers to testify and presented the jury with 17 photos, court records show. Honorato Cardona-Gonzalez did not call any witnesses to testify or present any evidence in his defense. The jury found him guilty of both the felony meth trafficking and felony possession of fentanyl charges and his sentencing date was scheduled for April 1.

At sentencing, Carnaroli imposed a unified 20 year prison sentence against Honorato Cardona-Gonzalez for each felony charge, but ordered the second 20-year term to be served at the same time as the first, court records show. He will be eligible for parole after being incarcerated for at least 10 years.

The investigation began to unfold in late October 2020 when an American Falls Police detective received information from a confidential informant that Flores, who was dating or married to Honorato Cardona-Gonzalez at the time, was dealing large amounts of meth in American Falls, police said. The informant told police that Flores drove a white GMC Yukon Denali with black rims and that she supplied meth to a man with the nickname “Durango,” who drives a white utility truck with yellow lights on top, police said.

Around the first of November 2020, police were able to identify “Durango” as Eddy Alejandro Gonzalez-Perez and began surveilling a home on the 300 block of Arthur Street, which was a known address for Honorato Cardona-Gonzalez and Eric Cardona Gonzalez, as well as an adjacent single-wide trailer located next door to the home that had the white utility truck with the yellow lights on top parked in the driveway, police said.

American Falls police detectives on Nov. 9, 2020, attended a narcotics intelligence meeting in Pocatello that also included detectives with the Pocatello and Chubbuck police departments, the Power and Bannock county sheriff’s offices, Idaho State Police and Drug Enforcement Administration, police said.

During that meeting, American Falls police detectives learned that Flores had been under investigation with multiple agencies including the DEA for suspected trafficking of meth, police said. Detectives with the Bingham County Sheriff’s Office and the Blackfoot Police Department also informed American Falls detectives that Flores was under investigation for suspected meth trafficking in their jurisdictions as well, police said.

American Falls detectives worked to compile evidence in November 2020 that would provide them with probable cause to conduct search warrants of the two residences on Arthur Street. This included detectives obtaining information from an automatic license plate reader installed in Bingham County, searching trash bins for both residences and locating various items of drug paraphernalia consistent with the use and distribution of meth and conducting an extensive background check on Flores that revealed she had no job or other known legal source of income, police said.

On Nov. 16, 2020, police obtained a warrant to install a tracking device on Flores’ white GMC Yukon Denali, which police attached to the vehicle the following day, according to police reports. Through observation of the vehicle and tracking device data, police learned Flores exclusively drove the vehicle while Honorato Cardona-Gonzalez rode in the passenger seat, police said.

The vehicle would make frequent short stops at parking lots, hotels and private residences in Pocatello, Aberdeen, Blackfoot, Power County, Fort Hall and Idaho Falls, police said.

A subsequent search of trash bins at both residences on Arthur Street conducted on Nov. 30, 2020, which revealed additional drug paraphernalia and documents that indicated Flores, Honorato Cardona-Gonzalez, Eric Cardona Gonzalez were living or frequenting the Arthur Street home, said police, adding that no items of interest were located in the trash bin for single-wide trailer.

Police conducted a no-knock search warrant for the home and adjacent single-wide trailer on Dec. 2, 2020, police said.

Inside the single-wide trailer, detectives located Eric Cardona Gonzalez and numerous small baggies with white residue that tested positive for meth, police said.

Inside of an RV camper parked in front of the single-wide trailer, police located Flores and Honorato Cardona-Gonzalez, police said. Detectives also located nearly 24 grams of meth, various drug paraphernalia, three digital scales, a large quantity of empty baggies, a bag with many pills suspected to be fentanyl-laced Oxycodone, a .380-caliber Ruger pistol previously reported stolen out of Chubbuck, a disassembled SKS-style .22-caliber rifle and two counterfeit $20 bills, police said.

Inside the home on Arthur Street, police located Eddy Alejandro Gonzalez-Perez and two children approximately the ages of 6 and 2, police said. Underneath a bathroom sink, detectives found two cloth bags that contained multiple meth pipes and small plastic bags with white powdery residue that tested positive for meth.