Bonner County man sentenced to 8 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to international meth deals

A Bonner County man was sentenced Tuesday to eight years in federal prison after pleading guilty to smuggling methamphetamine to the Pacific islands of Guam and Palau over two years.

Larry Junior Hillbroom, 37, pleaded guilty in September to a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine charge. Investigators said Hillbroom, of Hope, and three others smuggled the drugs in 2015 and 2016 “from North Idaho to the island nations of Guam and Palau via international airports,” according to court records. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho said in a release that the drugs were smuggled in shampoo containers and through other methods.

Morgan Kenny, 36, and Zachary Craig Carlson, 31, already pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a grand jury indictment. A fourth alleged conspirator, Sean Robert Wathen, 50, has pleaded not guilty and is set for trial in May, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill handed down the sentence Tuesday in Coeur d’Alene. Hillbroom was also ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution and serve three years’ probation upon his release from prison.