A Dallas member of the Aryan Brotherhood was sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to a drug charge stemming from a 2020 traffic stop in Richardson.
The Collin County District Attorney’s Office announced on November 14 that 30-year-old Dakota Carroll of Dallas had been handed a three-decade-long sentence by Judge Ben Smith for “possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, more than 4 grams but less than 200 grams of methamphetamine, a first degree felony,” according to the news release.
Carroll’s guilty plea came days before his trial was set to start.
“Dakota Carroll is a known violent gangster with [an] extensive criminal history [who was] willing to try to bribe police officers. This 30-year sentence holds him accountable and keeps him away from Collin County citizens,” said Collin County district attorney Greg Willis, per the news release.
Sgt. Benjamin Masters of the Richardson Police Department stopped Carroll off North Central Expressway on July 26, 2020, for numerous traffic violations. Masters was later joined by K-9 officer Cory Wendling. K-9 Falco alerted the officers to the presence of drugs inside Carroll’s vehicle, giving probable cause to search the car.
The officers uncovered 58 grams of methamphetamine and less than 1 gram of heroin, as well as some equipment for distribution, including a digital scale and unused baggies.
According to the officers, Carroll then attempted to bribe them, saying that he could bring them a considerable amount of meth and guns if they let him go. Unsuccessful with his bargain, Carroll was arrested and held in Collin County jail for 81 days before posting a bond of $25,000.
While out on bail, Carroll allegedly committed several other offenses in Dallas County. These crimes included robbery, possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, deadly conduct that involved the non-fatal shooting of a woman, evading with a motor vehicle, abandoning and endangering a child, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. Carroll had a prior conviction for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
In Texas District Courts in 2022, a total of 2,995 defendants committed another crime while released on bail, according to a report from the Texas Judicial Branch. Meanwhile, 9,690 failed to appear in court, and 5,240 violated the terms of their bond.
As recently reported by The Dallas Express, a Carrollton man was running a fentanyl ring that caused several juvenile overdoses, four of which were fatal, last year while under house arrest.
Additionally, there have been 8,980 drug offenses logged within Dallas so far this year, according to the City’s crime analytics dashboard. This marks an increase of 3.6% year over year.
Downtown Dallas has seen significant hikes in its rate of drug offenses, robberies, and auto theft incidents amid an ongoing officer shortage within the Dallas Police Department, as previously reported by The Dallas Express. Despite a City report recommending a force of 4,000 officers, the department fields roughly 3,200.
Meanwhile, neighboring Fort Worth’s downtown area has been seeing significantly lower crime rates and is reportedly patrolled by a designated police unit alongside private security officers.