Paul Garcia, 41, of Barnhart has been sentenced to seven years in prison for allegedly abusing a dog last year in Jefferson County.
Garcia was charged with felony animal abuse and armed criminal action in the case and entered an Alford Plea, which means he did not admit guilt but agreed there was sufficient evidence to find him guilty of the offenses.
Jefferson County Div. 4 Circuit Judge Brenda Stacey sentenced Garcia to seven years for the animal abuse charge and three years for the armed criminal action charge. However, those sentences will be served concurrently, or at the same time.
Those prison terms also will be served concurrently with a 10-year prison term he was sentenced to in May after pleading guilty to a federal gun charge in a separate case.
Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Trisha Stefanski handled the animal abuse and armed criminal action cases.
In February 2019, a Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office deputy found a dog 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. Detectives found a fingerprint on the tape that led them to Garcia, who reportedly admitted to abusing the dog, the probable-cause statement in the case said.
Garcia allegedly told investigators he was installing speakers in his truck and found the dog under the vehicle. He 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 less than a week later, Flick was reunited with its owner, Kaitlynn Kofron, who lived near Garcia, the Sheriff’s Office reported.
On May 7, U.S. District Judge Catherine D. Perry of the Eastern District of Missouri Court in St. Louis handed down the 10-year 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 Sheriff’s Office had been investigating Garcia since August 2018 for reportedly trafficking in methamphetamine in an around Jefferson County.
In September 14, 2018, Sheriff’s Office deputies stopped Garcia for speeding on Hwy. MM near Old Hwy. 21. When he 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 meth trafficking activities, according to the report.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Yemm handled the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Garcia, who also has lived in Cedar Hill and House Springs, previously pleaded guilty to felony stealing charges in St. Louis County in 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.