United States Attorney
Northern District of Texas

1100 Commerce St., 3rd Fl.
Dallas, Texas 75242-1699

Telephone (214) 659-8600
Fax (214) 767-0978

FORTY ACRES OF PROPERTY FORFEITED
TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
DEEDED TO LUBBOCK COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE FOR GUN RANGE

United States Attorney Richard B. Roper and Ronnie Carter, Special Agent in Charge of the Dallas Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), officially announced the transfer of a large parcel of real estate in Lubbock County, formerly known as and operated as the Lubbock Shooting Range, to the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office.

At the press event held this morning, U.S. Attorney Roper and Special Agent in Charge Carter presented the Special Deed and the keys to Lubbock County Sheriff David Gutierrez, who expressed his appreciation and announced that the property, located at 2108 North County Road 1100, in Lubbock County, would be used to train area law enforcement officers. The property is approximately 40 acres and contains a residence, a shooting range, a building previously used as a gun shop, and two large storage buildings. Sheriff Gutierrez also announced the new name of the facility would be the “Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office Training Academy Gun Range.”

U.S. Attorney Roper said, “Today is a landmark day. Through our coordinated efforts, hard work and ingenuity, all of us here today were able to make a great thing happen. We’ve transformed a criminal’s business into a resource that all of law enforcement can use to ultimately apprehend more criminals just like him.” Roper continued, “I want to thank all the federal, state and local officials, including the ATF, the Texas Department of Public Safety Narcotics Service and the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office. This is another clear example of the success of Project Safe Neighborhoods.”

ATF Special Agent in Charge Carter said, “The success of this investigation is two-fold. It benefitted the community by putting in prison a person illegally selling firearms that ended up in the hands of criminals. It also benefits local law enforcement by having a place to train to enhance their expertise and safety.”

Sheriff Gutierrez said, “Once again, this occasion is representative of what I believe is working together across jurisdictional lines to continue to provide the protection and safety of not only the citizens of Lubbock County but also the state of Texas and our Nation. I would like to also take this opportunity to express my gratitude to RAC Felix Garcia and the local ATF office for their professional demeanor in not only this forfeiture case but also in our working relationship."

The event today was also attended by several other law enforcement representatives and dignitaries, including, Lubbock County District Attorney Matt Powell, Lubbock Police Chief Claude Jones, Texas Department of Public Safety Narcotics Division CPT Joe Longway, U.S. Marshal Randy Ely, Deputy U.S. Marshal Tommy Bustamante; and ATF RAC Felix Garcia.

United States District Judge Sam R. Cummings ordered the forfeiture of the property to the federal government in October 2004 when defendant Leslie Wayne Spivey, Jr., of Shallowater, was sentenced to serve 74 months imprisonment on a drug and firearms conviction. Spivey, a licensed firearms dealer who owned and operated the Lubbock Shooting Range, had pled guilty a few months earlier to one count of distribution of diazepam and criminal forfeiture, one count of possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and one count of false records in firearms transactions. The property was forfeited to the United States pursuant to Title 21, United States Code, Section 853(a) because it was used to commit, or to facilitate the commission, of controlled substance violations.

In plea papers filed, Spivey admitted that on April 26, 2003, he knowingly and intentionally distributed Diazepam, a Schedule IV controlled substance. He also admitted that on the same date, he possessed a Glock .9mm pistol and a FM Argentine, Model Hi Power, .9 mm caliber pistol in furtherance of this drug trafficking crime. Spivey also admitted that from in and around the Fall of 2002 through May 2003, while he was a licensed firearms dealer doing business as the Lubbock Shooting Range, he knowingly made false statements and representations with respect to information required to be kept in his records. Specifically, Spivey admitted that he entered false transferee identification information in the Firearms Acquisition and Disposition Record related to the sale, delivery, transfer and disposition of three firearms ---- a Browning, Model BDA, .380 caliber pistol; a FM Argentine, Model Hi Power, .9mm caliber pistol; and a Ruger Model Mini 30, 7.62 x 39 caliber rifle.

ATF Records indicate that in 2003, 15 guns that Spivey sold, in “off paper” sales, ended up at crime scenes. “There is no question that Spivey was involved in illegal gun and drug trafficking for quite some time,” said Felix G. Garcia, Resident Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, in Lubbock, Texas.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Tanya Pierce and Diane Kozub.

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