Federal Jury Convicts Dallas Man on Drug and Firearm Charges

DALLAS — Following a five-day trial, a federal jury has convicted Thomas Earl Wright, 33, of Dallas, on all counts of a superseding indictment charging drug trafficking and firearm offenses, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas and U.S. Attorney John M. Bales of the Eastern District of Texas.

Specifically, Wright was convicted on one count of possession with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, one count of possession with intent to distribute marijuana, one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. 

For the possession with intent to distribute cocaine conviction, a statutory maximum penalty of not less than 10 years and up to life in federal prison and a $1 million fine may be imposed.  For the possession with intent to distribute marijuana conviction, a statutory maximum of five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine may be imposed.  The firearm possession conviction carries a statutory penalty of at least five years and not more than life in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.  The felon in possession conviction carries a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.  Wright is scheduled to be sentenced on January 7, 2016, by U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle.

According to documents filed in the case and evidence presented at trial, officers with the Dallas Police Department responded to a welfare complaint about a children coming and going from a narcotics stash house on Packard Street in Dallas.  When officers arrived at the residence, they encountered Wright leaving the residence, through its back door, with bundles of cash stuffed in his pockets.  Wright’s co-defendant, Eric Tyrone Harris, opened the front door to the residence when officers knocked, and officers noted a strong odor of marijuana emitting from the residence through the front door.  A juvenile was at the front door with Harris, and officers removed the child from the residence and released him to a parent.

Law enforcement secured a search warrant and found multiple kilograms of cocaine located in a suitcase in a utility room, more than 100 pounds of marijuana in a bedroom closet, and approximately $30,000 in cash — $3,000 in Wright’s pockets and $27,000 in cash beneath a mattress.  In addition, they located three firearms in the residence.

Harris pleaded guilty in April 2015 to one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and is scheduled to be sentenced on October 1, 2015.

The Dallas Police Department, U.S. Secret Service, Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Plano Police Department investigated.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Errin Martin of the Northern District of Texas and Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather Rattan of the Eastern District of Texas are prosecuting the case.

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