ST. LOUIS (AP) - A Missouri man accused of animal abuse was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison on an unrelated federal gun charge.
U.S. District Judge Catherine D. Perry sentenced Paul “Paco” Garcia as part of a plea deal, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
The federal case against the 40-year-old Barnhart man stems from a 2018 traffic stop for speeding during which police found a revolver in the glove compartment. A baseball bat and a bag containing metal knuckles and .38-caliber bullets were found.
Garcia separately still faces animal abuse and armed criminal action charges in Jefferson County Circuit Court after his fingerprints were matched last year to electrical tape used to tie a dog’s legs and mouth. The dachshund, which was thrown into a ditch, was found 12 hours later in bitter cold and survived.
Garcia told officers he tied up the dog after he found him under his car because he thought the dog was associated with law enforcement and was spying on him.
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