Department of Justice

BOISE – Jesus Javier Malagon, 32, of Twin Falls, has been sentenced to 355 months in prison on federal drug and gun charges, as well as shooting at a Shoshone City police officer, U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced.  In February of this year, a Boise jury found Malagon guilty of the charges after a weeklong trial.  He was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill at the Federal Courthouse in Boise.  In addition to nearly thirty years in prison, Malagon was sentenced to 4 years of supervised release.

The case stemmed from a January 30, 2018, traffic stop of Malagon by a Shoshone City police officer.  At the time of the stop, Malagon possessed a large quantity of marijuana, a digital scale, drug packaging items and two loaded handguns.  Malagon fled from the officer at a high-speed.  The officer pursued.  Malagon eventually crashed his vehicle, resulting in significant injuries to himself.  When the officer approached Malagon after the crash, Malagon shot a 9-millimeter handgun at the officer.  The officer, who was not injured, immediately returned fire, striking Malagon multiple times.  Malagon suffered non-life threatening injuries from the shooting.  During a subsequent search of Malagon’s vehicle, investigators found the 9-millimeter handgun, a .38-caliber revolver, multiple pounds of marijuana, and other items showing that Malagon was distributing marijuana.  Malagon had previously been convicted of manufacturing marijuana, a felony, and was prohibited from possessing firearms.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Shoshone City Police Department, Gooding County Sheriff’s Office, and the Critical Incident Task Force, which includes the Idaho State Police, Twin Falls County Sheriff’s Office, and Twin Falls City Police Department.

This case was prosecuted as part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) program.  PSN is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime.  Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.  As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

# # #