'That's how deadly it is'

COEUR d’ALENE — A recent bust in Coeur d’Alene turned up more than 40,000 fentanyl pills in one car.

“That’s a lot for this area,” said Bryce Ellsworth, assistant United States Attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice in Coeur d’Alene. 

But not surprising.

Ellsworth said he used to prosecute cases that involved from 200 to 1,000 fentanyl pills.

Not anymore. That's considered small-time now.

“At this point I can’t prosecute those cases at those levels because there’s too many,” Ellsworth said in a recent presentation to the Coeur d’Alene Sunrise Rotary Club at The Coeur d’Alene Resort.

Instead, he focuses on larger shipments of 5,000 to 10,000 pills.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that’s more powerful than morphine. The pills can resemble prescription narcotics like Oxycontin, but are counterfeit and often lethal.

“They come in forms that you wouldn't expect,” he said.

In Idaho labs, Ellsworth said they found that every major drug came up with small samples of fentanyl, including marijuana, meth and cocaine.

“This substance is really cheap for the cartels to make and it’s really profitable so now it’s going into everything,” Ellsworth said.

Fentanyl pills are particularly dangerous, "because for a long time that was considered the safe thing to try, but that is no longer the case.” Ellsworth said.

He said with heroin, 3/10ths of a gram is enough to kill a person. With fentanyl, it only takes 3/100ths of a gram.

“So that’s how deadly it is and that’s the reason we have seen a rash of overdose deaths,” he said.

“Even drug users are trying to find other substances beyond fentanyl to abuse,” Ellsworth added.

Consequences are tragic.

In Kootenai County in 2022, there were 42 overdose deaths, with 24 related to fentanyl.

On Aug. 28, 2020, a 16-year-old was found unconscious in his bedroom at his father’s home in Sandpoint. He died, despite attempts to revive him by family and medical personnel. The coroner determined the teen died of a fentanyl overdose. A toxicology report and autopsy showed that the student had a lethal dose of fentanyl in his system at the time of his death, according to the DEA.

A 15-year-old Lake City High School student died after taking a counterfeit pill in 2021.

“We understand that this isn’t necessarily a problem that we can solve here in Coeur d’Alene by ourselves," Ellsworth said. "We can’t arrest our way out of this problem or prosecute our way out of this problem."

Idaho Gov. Brad Little in February signed a bill creating mandatory prison sentences for fentanyl trafficking.

Under the new law, people convicted of possession between 4 and 14 grams of fentanyl or “any mixture or substance containing a detectable amount” of fentanyl will face a mandatory minimum sentence of three years in prison and a $10,000 fine. If the fentanyl is in pill form, it would take between 100 and 249 pills to receive that sentence.

Those convicted of possessing between 14 and 28 grams of fentanyl or between 250 and 500 pills would face a mandatory five-year prison sentence and a $15,000 fine. For possession of more than 28 grams or more than 500 pills, the minimum sentence is 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine.

The bill also includes provisions for the crime of “drug-induced homicide,” meaning a person could be charged with a felony if they supply drugs that later kill someone.

Blaine Conzatti, president of Idaho Family Policy Center, said while there has been much debate in recent decades over mandatory minimums, two things are clear: First, mandatory minimums reduce sentence disparity and address the real problem of unjust and unduly lenient sentences for drug trafficking. Second, mandatory minimums get the most dangerous criminals off the streets for longer periods of time.

“Many of us have seen the devastation caused by the wave of fentanyl flowing into Idaho, destroying families and poisoning our communities," Conzatti said in a press release. "This new law will send the message that fentanyl drug trafficking will no longer be tolerated in our state.”

The Coeur d'Alene City Council last month unanimously approved a police request to form a two-person opioid task force at a cost of about $260,000 annually.

It is expected to start in fiscal year 2024-25.

Police Chief Lee White said use of opioids, such as fentanyl, is a “huge problem in our community,” and that will require police to work jointly with other law enforcement and health agencies.

As a prosecutor, Ellsworth works on large level drug trafficking cases. His authority extends to the 10 North Idaho counties, from Riggins to the Canada border.  

“My sole objective is trying to find essentially the large dealers in the area, and then I work with my federal partners and local partners to not only identify that individual but identity his source," he said.

He said there used to be three main drugs everyone was concerned about: Meth, heroin and marijuana. He no longer prosecutes marijuana cases. 

“It’s still illegal federally, but the state of Idaho has held strong to their marijuana laws and their marijuana prosecutions,” he said.

Now, fentanyl is king.

“As of today, I don’t have any drug cases that don’t involve fentanyl,” he said.

Ellsworth has a one-hour program on the dangers of fentanyl he presents at schools and to civic groups to get the message to youths.

"Because it’s kids who are initially going to experiment with those drugs,” he said.