Paul Garcia, 40, of Barnhart has been sentenced to 10 years in prison on a federal gun charge, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced.
Today (May 7) U.S. District Judge Catherine D. Perry of the Eastern District of Missouri Court in St. Louis handed down the sentence to Garcia, who pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office had been investigating Garcia since August 2018 for reportedly trafficking in methamphetamine in an around Jefferson County.
On Sept. 14, 2018, Sheriff’s Office deputies stopped him for speeding on Hwy. MM near Old Hwy. 21. When Garcia was asked to step out of the vehicle, he reached for a baseball bat, the report said.
When deputies searched the car, they found a silver baseball bat and a Rock Island Armory .38 SPL revolver. They also found a small black bag containing metal knuckles and .38 caliber bullets. Garcia admitted he kept the revolver in his glove box for protection in connection with his methamphetamine trafficking activities, according to the report.
Assistant United States Attorney Lisa Yemm handled the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Garcia also is facing two felony charges in Jefferson County stemming from a February 2019 incident, when a dog was found in a ditch along Old Hwy. M near Schneider Road in the Antonia area with electrical tape and duct tape around his muzzle and legs. The dog’s owner, Kaitlynn Kofron, lived near Garcia, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office reported.
Detectives found a fingerprint on the tape that led them to Garcia, who reportedly admitted to abusing the dog. He allegedly told investigators he was installing speakers in his truck and found the dog under it. He reportedly said he “was concerned” that a camera was attached to the dog because “law enforcement was monitoring his movements.”
Garcia said he “panicked,” bound the dog and drove it to Old Hwy. M where he “pulled over and threw the dog out his window onto the side of the road,” the report said.
When the deputy found the dog, a black and brown dachshund named Flick, the temperature was 18 degrees, and after the dog was taken to Ivan Animal Hospital in House Springs for treatment, his body temperature was 96 degrees. Typically, a dog’s body temperature is 101. In addition, Flick appeared to have a head injury, according to the report.
Todd Mahn of Mahn Funeral Homes in De Soto volunteered to pay the medical bills for the dog’s treatment, and Flick was reunited with its owner less than a week later.
Garcia was charged with one count of animal abuse, a class E felony punishable by a maximum of four years in prison, and one count of armed criminal action, an unclassified felony punishable by a minimum of three years in prison. A jury trial in the case is scheduled to begin July 29.
Garcia, who also has lived in Cedar Hill and House Springs, previously pleaded guilty to felony stealing charges in St. Louis County 2005 and 2014; felony domestic assault charges in Jefferson County in 2013 and 2014; and felony drug charges in Jefferson County in 2011 and 2013, court documents show.