FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
| Date: | Oct 31, 2017 |
| Contact: | Tanner Stellmon (208) 287-7700 |
| RE: | State v. Byron Sanchez |
Yesterday, the Honorable Judge Hippler sentenced Byron Sanchez to a unified five-year sentence with 4 years fixed and 1 year indeterminate, after an Ada County Jury found Mr. Sanchez guilty of authoring and sending a threatening letter to a public official on August 9, 2017.
In September 2016, Mr. Sanchez sent the threatening letter from prison to the Gem County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, designed to motivate the official to act out of fear of Mr. Sanchez and dismiss the Felony Injury to Child conviction. In the letter, Mr. Sanchez threatened harm to the official’s family should the official fail to meet his demands.
At sentencing, the Honorable Judge Hippler indicated that the integrity of the system demands that officials, acting within the scope of their charge from the community to uphold its laws, must be protected against undue intimidation or threat.