REXBURG, Idaho, Jan. 20, 2016 (Nate Eaton/EastIdahoNews.com) — Authorities have released a 911 phone call from a drug trafficking arrest that has people shaking their heads.
The call, released by the Rexburg Police Department and obtained by EastIdahoNews.com, details an incident nearly a year ago on Jan. 23, 2015, when two out-of-state drug traffickers got high and called police to turn themselves in.
Leland Ayala-Doliente, 22, and Holland Sward, 23, were traveling from Las Vegas to Bozeman, Montana, with some 20 pounds of marijuana. Court documents show the men were using marijuana during their trip and when they entered Idaho, they felt they were being followed by undercover police officers.
Rexburg Police Cpt. Randy Lewis told EastIdahoNews.com that at the time they weren’t being followed by anyone.
Once they reached Rexburg, the pair exited U.S. Highway 20, parked their car and called 911. They said they just wanted the police to stop following them.
When police officers arrived, they say both men had their hands behind their heads. Court documents show Sward said to an officer, “We got caught and we’re surrendering.”
Investigators found 20 pounds of marijuana inside a dog cage that the suspects had placed on the sidewalk. There was also $567 in cash inside the car. Ayala-Dolitente and Sward were each charged with one felony count of trafficking marijuana.
In June, Sward pleaded guilty to possession with intent to deliver, amended down from an original charge.
Sward was given a five-year sentence to prison. District Judge Greg Moeller suspended the judgment and placed Sward on probation for five years and ordered him to serve 30 days in jail.
Ayala-Doliente was sentenced to one and a half to eight years in prison, November. Moeller increased the sentence after Ayala-Doliente tested positive for marijuana, cocaine and oxycodone on his sentencing day.
