Methamphetamine Trafficker Sentenced to More Than 11 Years in Federal Prison

ABILENE, Texas — A Fort Worth, Texas, man, Manuel Guadalupe Garcia, 21, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor to 135 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in October 2016 to one count of possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Judge O’Connor further ordered that Garcia’s federal sentence be served consecutively to any sentences imposed in two state cases for murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon that are currently pending in Taylor County, Texas.

According to documents filed in the case, on October 22, 2015, an officer with the Abilene, Texas, Police Department was on routine patrol in a high-drug area when he observed an individual leave a residence from which drugs are commonly sold. The 2013 GMC pick-up truck left the residence and failed to stop at a stop sign. The vehicle was stopped and the driver/sole occupant was Garcia, who gave the officer consent to search his vehicle. The officer found a digital scale with a white powdery residue in the center console and an 8-ball of methamphetamine in the ashtray. An additional two baggies of methamphetamine, with a combined weight of more than 400 grams, were found in hidden compartments in the vehicle’s dashboard. Garcia admitted he was paid to transport the methamphetamine to Abilene and deliver it to “Bobby.”

The case was investigated by the Abilene Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Juanita Fielden was in charge of the prosecution.

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