Arizona Man Sentenced to 248 Months in Federal Prison for Firearm and Drug Offenses

AMARILLO, Texas — Arturo Salazar, Jr., 41, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater to serve a total of 248 months in federal prison following his guilty plea in September 2017 to one count of possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, announced U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox of the Northern District of Texas.

Judge Fitzwater ordered Salazar to report to the Bureau of Prisons on February 27, 2018.

According to the plea agreement factual resume filed in the case, on November 4, 2016, a Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper stopped a vehicle for speeding. The driver of the vehicle was identified as Salazar. The vehicle was also occupied by a female passenger. The Trooper noticed several indicators of possible criminal activity and Salazar and the female passenger provided the Trooper with conflicting stories of where they were traveling to and the reason for their trip. While waiting for a K9 unit to arrive to search the vehicle, Salazar admitted that there was a small amount of methamphetamine and a pipe on the driver’s side of his vehicle and methamphetamine in the trunk of the vehicle. Salazar also admitted he was going to deliver the methamphetamine to Springfield, Missouri.

A search of the vehicle revealed a small baggie of methamphetamine and the pipe in the driver’s side door, 24 bundles of suspected methamphetamine, with a net weight of 10,757 grams with a purity level of approximately 95 percent, in the trunk of the vehicle and a loaded firearm.

The Texas Department of Public Safety and Drug Enforcement Administration investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joshua Frausto and Sean Taylor prosecuted.

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