A former prosecuting attorney was federally indicted on drug possession and distribution charges this month.
Robin Dunn, 67, was indicted by a federal grand jury on Sept. 13 on one count of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine, two counts of possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine, and one count of distribution of methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced.
DEA agents with the support of local police arrested Dunn at his home in Rigby on Sept. 14. He was scheduled to be arraigned on Sept. 18.
Dunn served as the Jefferson County prosecuting attorney for 34 years before he retired in 2016. He was the Rigby city attorney for almost 30 years before he stepped down in 2022. At the time of his first arrest earlier this year he was city attorney for Ririe and Roberts as well as a private defense attorney.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, police were called to a restaurant parking lot in Idaho Falls on the night of Feb. 18 to check on a female who was “very high on dirty 30s” and “not safe to drive.”
“Dirty 30s” are fentanyl pills made to look like pharmaceutical oxycodone pills.
The caller said the female had been “nodding off and acting very high” inside the restaurant.
Upon locating the described vehicle, Idaho Falls police officer Matthew Matherly found Dunn sitting in the front passenger seat with one of his clients, Vivian Exler, in the driver’s seat.
At the time, Exler was facing charges in Madison County (Rexburg) for drug possession.
Matherly in the court records described Exler’s eyes as bloodshot and glossy.
The officer said he noticed a red straw with a burnt end and an opened roll of aluminum foil on the car floor, both of which he said are commonly used to cook and take drugs.
Mugshot of Vivian Exler taken after an arrest in Madison County in March 2022. Photo credit: Madison Sheriff's Office
Another officer conducted a free-air sniff test with a dog. Matherly said Dunn attempted to interfere with the K-9 search by opening his door and refusing to close it after being told to. According to Idaho law, a free-air sniff is no longer lawful when any part of the dog enters the vehicle. Matherly said that Dunn would have known that given his legal expertise. The K-9 officer kept the dog out of the car.
While Exler was not found with drugs on her person at the time, Matherly found a Ziplock baggie containing 30 fentanyl pills inside of Dunn’s front left pants pocket.
While Dunn initially denied having any other illegal items on him, Matherly said he later admitted he had some in his right boot.
The officer searched his boot and found a baggie containing another 30 fentanyl pills as well as Xanax and Alprazolam.
Dunn, if convicted, faces up to 20 years in federal prison, a maximum fine of $1,000,000, and at least three years of supervised release.
The case is under investigation by the DEA and local and state law enforcement agencies.
Dunn is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
