COEUR d’ALENE — A man who pleaded guilty to trafficking drugs and who police said possessed more than 1,000 fentanyl pills will spend up to a decade in prison. 

Michael P. Keener, 54, pleaded guilty in October to trafficking in heroin and trafficking in methamphetamine. First District Judge Ross Pittman sentenced Keener this week to 10 years in prison with parole eligibility after five years. 

The charges stem from Feb. 16, when police responded to an area motel “after receiving a 911 text for help,” according to the Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. 

Upon arrival, officers looked through the window of a vehicle and observed drug paraphernalia “in plain view.” The vehicle turned out to be associated with the 911 text, prosecutors said, though police determined that no one was in danger. 

A search of the vehicle yielded nearly an ounce of heroin, more than an ounce of methamphetamine and more than 1,000 fentanyl pills, according to prosecutors. 

Prosecutors originally charged Keener with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, specifically for the fentanyl pills. 

Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed a bill Feb. 26 creating mandatory prison sentences for fentanyl trafficking. Under the new law, which took effect July 1, people convicted of possessing between 4 and 14 grams of fentanyl or “any mixture or substance containing a detectable amount” of fentanyl will face a mandatory minimum sentence of three years in prison and a $10,000 fine. If the fentanyl is in pill form, it would take between 100 and 249 pills to receive that sentence. 

Those convicted of possessing between 14 and 28 grams of fentanyl or between 250 and 500 pills would face a mandatory five-year prison sentence and a $15,000 fine. For possession of more than 28 grams or more than 500 pills, the minimum sentence is 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine. 

The bill also includes provisions for the crime of “drug-induced homicide,” meaning a person could be charged with a felony if they supply drugs that later kill someone. 

Kootenai County prosecutors noted that the law was not yet in effect at the time of Keener’s arrest. 

“Because the two trafficking convictions would ensure more prison time than possession of the fentanyl, the fentanyl related charge was dismissed in return for Kenner’s guilty pleas to two counts of trafficking,” the prosecutor’s office said in a news release. 

Prosecutors said Keener has prior convictions for forgery, theft, burglary, harassment and assault.