Suspect awaits sentencing

SANDPOINT — A St. Maries man convicted of burglarizing a Sandpoint pharmacy and stealing thousands of doses of prescription drugs is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 28.

Brandon Lewis Ochoa, 29, admitted late last year he was behind the break-in at the White Cross Pharmacy and a previous burglary of a motel room at the Meandering Moose. He also pleaded guilty to possessing approximately 12,000 pills boosted during the burglary.

In exchange for the pleas, the state agreed to drop charges of possessing methamphetamine and a stolen credit card. The state also agreed to drop a charge alleging that Ochoa intended to sell the narcotics stolen from White Cross.

The Meandering Moose and White Cross burglaries occurred on March 26, 2006, and April 3, 2006, respectively. Ochoa effected the pharmacy rip-off by smashing out a window, loading the drugs into a wheel-mounted trash can and hauling it to his motel room, according to Sandpoint Police.

Chief Mark Lockwood estimated the stolen painkillers and narcotics would have fetched up to $100,000 on the street market. Police, acting on a tip, searched Ochoa's motel room three days after the pharmacy heist and discovered the cache of narcotics.

Ochoa is set to be sentenced with a persistent violator enhancement due to convictions in Benewah County for burglaries in 1996 and 2002.