Fed drug, gun charges draw 7-year prison term for HS man
A Hot Springs man was sentenced to seven years in federal prison Monday in U.S. District Court at Hot Springs for felony charges involving the sale of meth and a stolen gun.
Tyler Merle Cable, 34, was indicted in November 2019 on one count of possession with intent to distribute meth and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking and had pleaded guilty to the
charges in February, according to a news release from David Clay Fowlkes, acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Arkansas.
Cable was sentenced to 84 months, or seven years, in prison followed by three years of supervised probation and under federal sentencing guidelines will have to serve 85% of his sentence, or almost six years, before he is eligible for release.
According to the facts of the case listed in Cable’s plea agreement, agents with the 18th Judicial District East Drug Task Force were conducting narcotics investigations and using confidential sources to purchase meth from area drug dealers.
One such transaction took place on or about Sept. 6, 2019, when a recorded phone call was made to Cable and an agreement reached for Cable to sell a confidential source a certain amount of meth and a semi-automatic handgun for a combined price of $450.
Prior to the transaction, agents met with and searched the source and their vehicle and provided the source with the $450 in “official buy funds” and equipped the source with a recording device.
The source then met with Cable at a predetermined location in Garland County while agents maintained surveillance.
Cable and the source entered the structure and it was noted Cable was carrying a dark bag.
Cable removed a .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun from the bag and gave the source “a detailed demonstration on how to properly operate the firearm.” Then he gave the source the meth and three rounds of .45-caliber ammunition in exchange for the $450.
The entire transaction was captured, including video and audio, by the recording device and the source could be heard telling Cable he was a convicted felon. The source left and met with DTF agents and provided them with the meth, the gun and the ammunition. The drugs, 1.7 grams, were tested with positive results for the presence of meth.
It was determined the gun had been reported stolen on or about Aug. 14, 2019. As part of the plea agreement, Cable admitted to selling the stolen gun and meth to the source “at the same time for a single purchase price.”
The release notes the case was investigated by the DTF and Homeland Security Investigations Fayetteville and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Bryan Achorn with Judge Susan O. Hickey presiding over the sentencing hearing.