United States Attorney
Northern District of Texas

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

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

DALLAS MAN SENTENCED TO MORE THAN 16 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON,
WITHOUT PAROLE, ON DRUG AND FIREARMS CHARGES

Defendant Arrested Following High Speed Chase

Julius Flores, Jr., a resident of Dallas, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn to 195 months in prison, announced U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper of the Northern District of Texas. Flores, 34, pled guilty in November 2006 to one count of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Flores, and his co-defendant Michael Lynn Brashear, also of Dallas, have been in custody since their arrest by Dallas Police Department officers on September 5, 2005. Brashear has pleaded guilty to the same offenses as Flores and is scheduled to be sentenced on April 20, 2007.

On the morning of September 3, 2005, Dallas Police Department officers were in the vicinity of a suspected drug house on Fitchburg Drive in Dallas when they heard a gunshot and saw a 1991 Honda Accord leave the house at a high rate of speed, running a stop sign in the process. Michael Lynn Brashear drove the vehicle and Julius Flores, Jr. was seated in the backseat. A 15-year-old juvenile was in the front passenger’s seat.

Officers, in a marked unite, tried to stop the vehicle, however, a high-speed chase resulted, with speeds reaching 100 miles per hour. During the course of the chase, officers witnessed Flores making furtive gestures in the backseat. After a five-mile chase, Brashear finally stopped the vehicle.

Officers discovered a large cache of assault rifle ammunition in the front seat area of the vehicle and a cache of firearms and illegal drugs in the backseat area. Specifically, officers discovered five loaded handguns, loaded extra magazines, and numerous rounds of ammunition, all with a large quantity of methamphetamine, as well as quantities of cocaine, marijuana and pills in the backseat. Three assault rifles, one of which was a machine gun, were discovered in the trunk of the vehicle.

U.S. Attorney Roper praised the investigative efforts of the Dallas Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The case is part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative, a federal program aimed toward the aggressive prosecution of gun crimes. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Tromblay.

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