EAST TEXAS (TYLER MORNING TELEGRAPH) - U.S. District Judge Leonard Davis sentenced
four defendants Thursday to serve federal prison terms in the Eastern
District of Texas.
FRANKIE DARRELL
DURANT
Frankie Darrell Durant,
50, received a four-and-a-half-year sentence after he pleaded guilty on
Jan. 8 to being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to a news
release.
According to information presented in court, on July
26, three firearms were located in a storage room in Smith County, which
Durant was renting, the release stated.
Further investigation
revealed Durant was a convicted felon having been previously found
guilty of possession of a controlled substance, according to the
release. As a convicted felon, Durant is prohibited by federal law from
owning or possessing firearms or ammunition.
This case was
prosecuted as part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods Initiative. Project
Safe Neighborhoods is aimed at reducing gun and gang violence,
deterring illegal possession of guns, ammunition and body armor and
improving the safety of residents in the Eastern District of Texas, the
release stated. Participants in the initiative include community members
and organizations, as well as federal, state and local law enforcement
agencies.
The Texas Department of Public Safety investigated the case, and it was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Ann Cozby.
EDWARD JACOBS
Edward Jacobs, 43, and owner of a methadone
clinic, received a 15-and-a-half-year sentence after he pleaded guilty
on Dec. 18 to attempted arson and solicitation of murder for hire,
according to a news release.
According to information presented
in court, on March 19, Jacobs gave Daniel Kubisty $3,000 to burn down
the Add-Life Recovery Center, a methadone clinic in a building at 3322
E. Fifth St. in Tyler, the news release stated.
Jacobs and
Kubisty conspired to burn down the building in order to gain a
competitive advantage for the Methadone Clinic of East Texas, which was
owned by Jacobs and also had an office in Tyler, according to the
release.
On March 19, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms
and Explosives arrested Kubisty in Tyler. He was found to have a
gasoline can with a wick saturated in gasoline protruding from its neck
in the back of his pickup, according to the release.
After
Kubisty's arrest, Jacobs feared Kubisty would testify against him, and,
on June 1, he arranged a meeting with a man he believed he could hire to
kill Kubisty to prevent Kubisty's testimony, the release stated. During
the meeting, Jacobs offered to pay the hit man $12,000 for Kubisty's
murder. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was
monitoring the meeting and arrested Jacobs at the scene, according to
the release.
Kubisty pleaded guilty to attempted arson on Jan. 19 and is awaiting sentencing.
REGINALD LAVANN
EASTERN
Reginald Lavann Eastern,
44, of San Bernardino, Calif., pleaded guilty on Aug. 30 to possession
with intent to distribute cocaine and was sentenced to three-and-a-half
years in federal prison, according to a news release.
According
to information presented in court, on March 4, Eastern was in
possession of approximately 1 kilogram of cocaine which he intended to
deliver to others in the Eastern District of Texas, the news release
stated.
The Drug Enforcement Administration investigated the accident, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Baldwin prosecuted it.
BRETT BATES
Brett Bates, 49, received a 10-year sentence
after he pleaded guilty on March 14 to conspiracy to possess with intent
to distribute methamphetamine, according to a press release.
According
to information presented in court, up until May 27, 2011, Bates
conspired with other individuals to acquire and distribute
methamphetamine in Gregg County in the Eastern District of Texas. Bates
admitted to being responsible for the distribution of more than 150
grams of methamphetamine during this time, the release stated.
Five
of Bates' co-defendants also have been sentenced. Terri Rhea Young
received a two-year sentence on July 23. David Christopher Wheeler and
Raelene Dawn Ferguson were each sentenced to three-and-a-half years in
federal prison on July 20. Matthew Dean Willis was sentenced to one year
and three months in federal prison on June 12, and Harold Burgess
Dickens received a 17-and-a-half-year sentence on Jan. 10.
