FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — A Springdale man was sentenced today to 151 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release on one count of Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine.

The Honorable Judge Timothy L. Brooks presided over the sentencing hearing in the United States Western District of Arkansas federal court in Fayetteville. According to court documents, on or about October 22, 2021, an officer with the Tontitown police department initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle operated by Luis Gabriel Cardenas, 35, for speeding.

Cardenas attempted to flee the stop by speeding away and later attempted to initiate a crash with the pursuing officer. While attempting to turn a corner at high speed, Cardenas’s vehicle overturned.

The officer approached the vehicle but was unable to see Cardenas because of the vehicle’s tinted windows. The officer asked Cardenas if there was a gun in the vehicle, to which Cardenas responded “yes.” 

The officer broke the driver’s side window to communicate with Cardenas, who appeared trapped in the vehicle and injured, according to a police report. The officer asked Cardenas for the location of the gun and Cardenas stated it was in a bag.

The officer saw a backpack near Cardenas and pulled it from the vehicle. A search of the backpack revealed a loaded firearm, multiple plastic baggies containing suspected methamphetamine and miscellaneous drug paraphernalia.

The suspected methamphetamine was subsequently sent to the Homeland Security Investigations Crime Laboratory where it tested positive for methamphetamine. U.S. Attorney David Clay Fowlkes of the Western District of Arkansas made the announcement.

The Tontitown Police Department and the Fourth Judicial District Drug Task Force investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Hunter Bridges prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence and to make neighborhoods safer.