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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 18, 2006

Man Who Hid Drugs In Dog Food Container Gets 13 Years In Prison

JAN 18 -- MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA - Sheldon J. Sperling, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, announced today that ANTONIO LARON COLLINS, age 24, of Banks, Arkansas was sentenced to 135 months imprisonment and 36 months supervised release for Possession of Cocaine, and 24 months imprisonment and 12 months supervised release for Possession of Marijuana. Both sentences are to run concurrently. The defendant was also ordered to pay a Special Assessment of $100.00 for each count.

“The defendant was found guilty of the drug charges by a federal grand jury in August 2006, in violation of Title 21 U.S.C. § 844(a),” stated U.S. Attorney Sperling. “The charges were the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration.”

“In May 2006, the defendant was stopped on I-40 in Sequoyah County, by two Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers,” U.S. Attorney Sperling recalled. “COLLINS and his girlfriend were in a U-Haul truck, and were stopped for speeding and following too closely. During a search of the vehicle, a white plastic bag containing individual bags of marijuana and crack cocaine, and digital scales were found in a container of dog food. Following analysis of the substances, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations determined there were more than 43 grams of cocaine base and 165 grams of marijuana.”

“While the vehicle search was being conducted COLLINS fled the scene, jumping a fence and running into the hallway of a Vo-Tech building. He was tackled by the OHP trooper who gave chase, handcuffed, and returned to the troopers’ vehicle,” stated U.S. Attorney Sperling.

“The Honorable James H. Payne, United States District Judge in the Eastern District of Oklahoma, presided over today’s sentencing. Assistant United States Attorney Chris Wilson represented the government,” concluded U.S. Attorney Sperling.

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