State v. Perez Garcia

── State v. Perez Garcia ── Court: Idaho Supreme Court Date: April 14, 2026 Category: General IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF IDAHO Docket No. 51585 STATE OF IDAHO, ) ) Plaintiff-Respondent, ) Boise, October 2025 Term ) v. ) Opinion Filed: April 14, 2026 ) JESUS AGUSTIN PEREZ GARCIA, ) Melanie Gagnepain, Clerk ) Defendant-Appellant. ) Appeal from the District Court of the Seventh Judicial District of the State of Idaho, Bingham County. Darren B. Simpson, District Judge. The judgment of the district court is affirmed. Erik R. Lehtinen, State Appellate Public Defender, Boise, for Appellant. Andrea Reynolds argued. Raúl R. Labrador, Idaho Attorney General, Boise, for Respondent. Kale D. Gans argued. _____________________________________________ MEYER, Justice. Jesus Agustin Perez Garcia was arrested and charged following a traffic stop in which illegal drugs were discovered. He pleaded guilty to two felony counts: possession of a controlled substance (Idaho Code section 37-2732(c)(1)) and destruction of evidence (Idaho Code section 18- 2603). At sentencing, both the State and the defense recommended probation, and the district court told Perez Garcia that a defendant “would typically get probation under these circumstances.” However, after noting that Perez Garcia was not legally in the United States and had returned to the United States after having been previously removed, the district court concluded that Perez Garcia could not comply with federal law as a condition of probation. The court denied probation, stating: “I don’t know how I can grant probation under those circumstances.” The district court then sentenced Perez Garcia to an indeterminate prison sentence of five years, allowing him to become eligible for parole at any time during his sentence. See I.C. § 19-2513(1). On appeal to this Court, Perez Garcia argues that the district court abused its discretion in sentencing him to prison rather than placing him on probation. For the reasons discussed below, we affirm. 1  I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND On July 25, 2023, law enforcement pulled a vehicle over for a cracked windshield. Perez Garcia was a passenger in the car, which was registered to an individual with an active arrest warrant in California. After law enforcement observed open containers of alcohol in Perez Garcia’s possession, all the passengers were directed to exit the vehicle, and the officers conducted a search for open containers. During this search, an officer observed Perez Garcia attempt to hide a pipe— which was later determined to contain methamphetamine residue—by placing it under the officer’s patrol car. After retrieving the pipe, the officer searched Perez Garcia and discovered another pipe—this one used for smoking marijuana. Meanwhile, the search of the vehicle led to the discovery of several grams of marijuana, which Perez Garcia confirmed belonged to him. He was charged with four counts: felony possession of a controlled substance, felony destruction of evidence, misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance, and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia. Pursuant to a non-binding plea agreement under Idaho Criminal Rule 11(f)(1)(B), Perez Garcia pleaded guilty to one felony count of possession of a controlled substance and one felony count of destruction of evidence. In exchange for his pleas, the State agreed it would recommend that the district court place Perez Garcia on probation and drop the two m