United States Attorney Richard B. Roper
Northern District of Texas

FEDERAL JURY CONVICTS CONVICTED FELON
FOR POSSESSING FIREARM AND POSSESSING METHAMPHETAMINE
WITH THE INTENT TO DISTRIBUTE

DALLAS – At a trial held before U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay, Larry Edward Petersen, 50, of Dallas, was found guilty by a federal jury of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, announced U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper of the Northern District of Texas. Petersen is scheduled to be sentenced on July 21, 2008, and faces up to life in prison.

On October 11, 2007, officers from the Midlothian Police Department stopped Petersen regarding a felony complaint. The defendant had more than $5000 in cash and a small amount of methamphetamine in his possession. An officer searching the area immediately surrounding the truck he was driving found a dark-colored, pipe-shaped object containing a white crystalline substance, which appeared to be methamphetamine, lying in a ditch. Petersen admitted to law enforcement that he had possessed the pipe-like object and had told his passenger to throw it out of the passenger’s window prior to being stopped by the Midlothian Police. The lab at the Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed that the substance contained approximately 83 grams of methamphetamine. Petersen claimed that he planned to travel to Arlington, Texas, and other cities in Texas to sell the drugs. The gun, a Ruger, .357 Revolver, was also found close to where the traffic stop occurred.

Petersen is a multi-convicted felon, at both the state and federal level, with numerous convictions for methamphetamine-related offenses, felony evading arrest, and introducing heroin into a federal correctional institute.

The case was adopted for federal prosecution by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) through the Project Safe Neighborhood initiative, a federal program designed for the quick and aggressive prosecution of firearm offenses. U.S. Attorney Roper praised the work of ATF and the Midlothian, Texas, Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jordan Konig and Camille Sparks.

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