Goyette, Marcuerquiaga plead guilty
By CHANSE WATSON
Managing Editor
WALLACE — In back-to-back Law Days on Friday, Nov. 7 and Monday, Nov. 10, Judge Scott Wayman addressed more than 35 different criminal cases. With the combined case load of two days, the types of cases brought before the judge varied wildly — but the majority of them did involve drug crimes.
The first of the 12 cases heard on Friday was that of 38-year-old Jason Michael Cuchine of Butte, Mont., who agreed to plead guilty to destroying evidence and attempting to elude law enforcement in exchange for a suspended prison sentence and supervised probation.
Cuchine was initially charged with possession of methamphetamine (felony), destruction of evidence (felony), attempting to elude an officer (felony), possession of marijuana (misdemeanor) and possession of drug paraphernalia (misdemeanor).
These charges stem from an incident on Oct. 3 where Cuchine led Idaho State Police troopers and other local law enforcement on a high-speed chase down Interstate 90.
ISP was in the midst of a three-day enforcement emphasis in the Silver Valley when troopers attempted to pull Cuchine over near milepost 39. Cuchine failed to yield and accelerated to a high rate of speed heading east.
The pursuit finally ended 30 miles down the road near milepost 69, after law enforcement used spike strips twice to disable his vehicle. Once he was brought to a stop, Cuchine was taken into custody without incident.
During the chase, the suspect attempted to dispose of large amounts of methamphetamine he had in his possession by throwing it out of his window. These drugs were later recovered by troopers.
Shoshone County Prosecutor Keisha Oxendine stated at Law Day that although his crimes had the potential to cause significant harm and injury, Cuchine’s limited criminal record and his willingness to cooperate led her to recommend supervised probation and a suspended five-year prison sentence.
Defense attorney Michael Horrocks agreed with Oxendine’s recommendation.
“This appears to be a one-time act in which he panicked instead of thinking things through,” he said to the court.
Judge Wayman then followed their lead and handed down the recommended sentence; but not before offering some sound advice.
“Your actions in this case could have had a much different outcome,” Wayman said to Cuchine. “I’m going to follow the recommendation here … you just have to stay away from drugs and stay out of trouble. You mess with drugs, you get into trouble.”
Another case taken up during the Friday Law Day was that of 25-year-old Breylan Marcuerquiaga, who plead guilty to a felony charge of attempted strangulation and another misdemeanor charge of violating a no contact order.
Court records indicate that on Nov. 18, 2018, Marcuerquiaga choked or attempted to strangle a female that he was/is dating.
That same day, he also “did willfully and unlawfully use force and/or violence upon the person of (redacted) by shoving her into a wall and/or refrigerator, and/or hitting her in the head while in the presence of (redacted) a child of the age of 2 years, and by committing said battery, did inflict a traumatic injury upon the person of (redacted) to-wit: bruising on her back and/or a bump on her head, and where (redacted) and the defendant are household members.”
With his guilty plea, Marcuerquiaga is scheduled for sentencing on March 3, 2019. The maximum penalty for the strangulation charge is 15 years in prison and $50,000 fine. The maximum penalty for the no contact order violation is one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
To end the Friday Law Day, the court heard the case of 28-year-old Duane A. Zwiers Jr., who changed his plea to guilty after initially denying the felony vehicular manslaughter charge against him.
ISP reported that Duane was driving a 2004 GMC Envoy down Forest Service Road 209 on July 29, 2017, when he failed to negotiate a left curve at milepost 2. The vehicle then went over a roughly 20-foot embankment and struck a tree.
The passenger, Rebecca J. Zwiers, was pronounced deceased at the scene of the crash.
Court records state that the county believes Duane killed Rebecca, without malice, by driving in a reckless manner while being under the influence of a mind-altering substance.
Visibly uncomfortable with being in the courtroom, Duane struggled to catch his breath as he answered each of Judge Wayman’s questions regarding the change in his plea.
Duane’s sentencing has been scheduled for March 4, 2019, and the maximum penalty he could receive is 10 years in prison and $10,000 fine.
At Monday’s Law Day, 45-year-old Eric Goyette made his first appearance in court since his arraignment on Sept. 5, where he plead not guilty to three separate child sexual abuse charges.
The Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office reported that on Wednesday, Aug. 8, SCSO received a report of a possible sexual crime involving a juvenile female.
Working collaboratively with the Osburn Police Department, local law enforcement worked throughout the night of Aug. 8 to investigate the incident. As a result, Goyette was arrested at 10:45 p.m. that night.
The felony charges he was booked for include child sexual abuse by soliciting a minor under 16 to participate in a sexual act, child sexual abuse by making photographic or electronic recordings of a minor under 16, and child sexual abuse by inducing/causing/permitting a minor under 16 to witness an act of sexual conduct.
In an apparent settlement offer made with the state, Goyette chose to admit guilt in counts 2 and 3 of his case and avoid a jury trial (which he initially pushed for in earlier hearings).
Goyette’s sentencing is set for March, 3, 2019, and he could receive a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison and a $50,000 fine for each of the two charges he admitted to.
Records on iCourt indicate that Goyette was arrested in 2015 for another juvenile related charge of encourage, aid or cause to come within purview that was vacated.