LAS VEGAS - - A Las Vegas man convicted by a jury in April of federal drug trafficking and firearm charges has been sentenced to Life plus five years in prison, announced Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada.

FRED WALKER, age 37, of Las Vegas, Nevada, was convicted by a jury on April 14, 2004, of Possession with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance (crack cocaine), Carrying a Firearm in Relation to a Drug Trafficking Crime, and Felon in Possession of a Firearm. Chief U.S. District Judge Philip M. Pro pronounced the Life sentence against WALKER on Monday, November 1, 2004, in Las Vegas. Federal statutes also required the Court to sentence the defendant to five additional consecutive years in prison for the charge of Carrying a Firearm in Relation to a Drug Trafficking Crime.

According to the court records, on November 3, 2003, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Detectives pulled over a stolen 1995 BMW automobile in the vicinity of Boulder Highway and Lamb Boulevard. The driver of the vehicle confirmed that the vehicle was stolen, but reported it had been obtained from WALKER. When the police attempted to contact Walker, he got into a vehicle and led officers on a high speed chase. At one point, WALKER drove through a convenience store parking lot at the intersection of Koval Lane and Flamingo Road, narrowly missing a collision with two other vehicles. Police chased after WALKER, but they were unable to keep up with his vehicle as he drove at speeds in excess of 80 miles per hour through heavy traffic. WALKER was arrested a short time later while driving another vehicle. Officers found a stolen .357 Colt King Cobra revolver, four cartridges, and crack cocaine pipe on the floor of the vehicle beneath where WALKER was sitting, and a large plastic bag containing approximately 60 grams of crack cocaine, a small amount of marijuana, and $488 in currency concealed in his pants.

WALKER has five prior felony convictions in Los Angeles, California, for Attempted Robbery, Receiving Stolen Property, Possession of a Controlled Substance, Transport and Sale of a Narcotic Controlled Substance, and Possession of a Narcotic Controlled Substance, and a 2001 felony conviction in Clark County, Nevada, for Coercion-Force, for attempting to throw a man over a second floor railing and stabbing him several times in the abdomen.

The case was screened by the Southern Nevada Project Safe Neighborhoods Task Force, which meets once a week to review cases involving criminals using or possessing guns in Clark County. Criminals who use or possess guns are prosecuted under federal or state laws, depending on which jurisdiction can provide the most appropriate punishment. It was investigated by Detectives with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and Special Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney William Reed.

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