United States Attorney
Northern District of Texas

1100 Commerce St., 3rd Fl.
Dallas, Texas 75242-1699

Telephone (214) 659-8600
Fax (214) 767-0978

GARLAND WOMAN SENTENCED TO MORE THAN EIGHT YEARS
IN FEDERAL PRISON, WITHOUT PAROLE,
ON FIREARMS CHARGE

Case Part of Project Safe Neighborhoods Initiative

United States Attorney Richard B. Roper announced that Laura Walker Bernard was sentenced yesterday by the Honorable A. Joe Fish, United States Chief District Judge, to 97 months imprisonment. Bernard, age 45, of Garland, Texas, pled guilty in September to an indictment that charged her with one count of felon in possession of a firearm. Following sentencing, she was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

On January 25, 2006, Bernard, who had been previously convicted in the Northern District of Texas on a methamphetamine conspiracy charge, and had served eight years in prison on that conviction, possessed a .357 magnum revolver. At the sentencing hearing Judge Fish found that Bernard possessed the firearm in connection with drug trafficking.

United States Attorney Roper praised the investigative efforts of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Garland, Texas, Police Department. This case is part of the Project Safe Neighborhood initiative, a federal program aimed toward the aggressive prosecution of gun crimes. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United State Attorney Gary Tromblay.

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