United States Attorney
Northern District of Texas

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

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

ARMED CAREER CRIMINAL SENTENCED TO MORE THAN 15 YEARS
IN FEDERAL PRISON, WITHOUT PAROLE, ON FIREARMS CONVICTION

DALLAS - Donald Cecil Cook was sentenced late Friday in federal court in Dallas to 188 months in prison as an armed career criminal, announced U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper of the Northern District of Texas. Cook, 32, of Dallas, pled guilty in January to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was sentenced as an armed career criminal under federal statute because of his extensive history of violent felonies and drug trafficking crimes. Court documents show that Cook’s criminal history includes convictions for home and building burglaries in Dallas, the possession with intent to distribute the drug Diazepam, and the felony possession of cocaine and methamphetamine.

On January 30, 2006, Garland Police Department investigators went to a home in Garland, Texas to serve a felony arrest warrant for Cook. Cook answered the door and allowed the officers to search the home. As the officers entered the living room, they saw several handguns and rifles in plain view, along with bags of methamphetamine and marijuana, and a set of digital scales used in drug distribution. They also found ecstasy and lorazepam pills in the home. In total, the Garland Police Department officers collected five firearms: a 20-gauge shotgun, a 9 millimeter pistol, which had been reported stolen, a .44 caliber pistol, a .25 caliber pistol with an obliterated serial number, and a 20 gauge/7 millimeter combination firearm. Federal law prohibits any convicted felon from possessing firearms.

Cook’s case was investigated and adopted by the ATF’s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task force, and prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office under the Project Safe Neighborhoods program, a nationwide effort which targets gun crime.

U.S. Attorney Roper praised the investigative efforts of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives and the Garland Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jordan Konig.

###