Texas man sentenced to 10 years in prison for distributing methamphetamine in Shreveport

SHREVEPORT, La. – Acting U.S. Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook announced today that a Texas man was sentenced last week to 120 months in prison for distributing methamphetamine in the Shreveport area and possessing a firearm.

Daniel D. Garza, 26, of Laredo, Texas, was sentenced Friday by U.S. District Judge Donald E. Walter to 60 months in prison on one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and to 60 months in prison on one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime to run consecutively. He was also sentenced to five years of supervised release. According to the guilty pleas, law enforcement officers received information on November 16, 2016 that Garza was at a Shreveport hotel attempting to distribute methamphetamine. The next day, law enforcement officers saw Garza leaving the hotel in a red Ford Focus with codefendants Bart W. Rogers II, 33, and Rachel Fothergill, 35, both of Dallas, Texas. Law enforcement agents conducted a traffic stop and searched the vehicle. A blue backpack was found in the front passenger side floorboard that contained a large gallon-sized Ziploc-style baggie with three more clear baggies inside containing approximately 195 grams of methamphetamine. Additionally, a 9 mm SAR Arms semi-automatic handgun, model SAR B6P, was located in a gun holster in the backpack. The firearm was loaded and the backpack also contained an additional loaded clip. Additionally, agents found another baggie that contained approximately 79 grams of methamphetamine in the glove box and a scale.

Rogers was sentenced on September 21, 2017 to 96 months in prison and four years of supervised release for the conspiracy count. Fothergill was sentenced on October 13, 2017 to 12 months and one day in prison and three years of supervised release for the conspiracy count.

The DEA and Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys James G. Cowles Jr. and Tiffany E. Fields prosecuted the case.