ST. LOUIS — A man charged with felony animal abuse in 2019 has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for being a felon in possession of a gun.
Paul, also known as ‘Paco,’ Garcia was sentenced in federal court on Thursday.
He remains charged in Jefferson County by the State of Missouri with second-degree animal abuse and armed criminal actions. The charges stem from allegations that Garcia threw a dog from his car window after binding its muzzle and legs with tape in February 2019.
Deputies traced a fingerprint on the tape to Garcia. The temperature was in the 30s when the dog was found and had been in the teens the night before. A Jefferson County Sheriff's Office spokesperson said in 2019 that Garcia tossed the dog out the window, and he'd been outside for about 12 hours.
In September 2018, Garcia was stopped by a Jefferson County deputy for speeding. According to court documents, when deputies asked Garcia to get out of the vehicle, he appeared to be reaching for a baseball bat in the car. When deputies searched the car, they found a baseball bat and gun.
Garcia admitted he kept the revolver in his glove box for protection in connection with his methamphetamine trafficking activities.
According to the plea agreement, law enforcement agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office began investigating Garcia in August 2018 for trafficking in methamphetamine in and around Jefferson County.
The dog named ‘Flick’ was reunited with his owner after the incident in 2019.
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