Oklahoma City, Oklahoma - On Feb. 23, 2016, PATRICK SAMIR ASFOUR, age 39, of Palm Coast, Florida, pled guilty to traveling interstate to commit violence in furtherance of a drug offense, possessing marijuana with intent to distribute, and carrying a gun during a drug trafficking crime, announced Mark A. Yancey, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma. With respect to the first crime, Asfour admitted that he intentionally struck an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper’s vehicle while the trooper was conducting a traffic stop in connection with the drug trafficking.
According to a superseding indictment filed in January 2016, Asfour and a co-defendant transported marijuana from California to Florida in January 2015 by using two cars, a scheme called “tandem driving." Asfour’s co-defendant drove a “load" car that carried approximately 136 pounds of hydroponic marijuana with an estimated value of $400,000 and a 9mm pistol. Asfour drove an “escort" vehicle. Asfour and his co-defendant agreed that the escort vehicle would strike a law enforcement cruiser if the load vehicle was pulled over. They hoped this would create a diversion that would allow the load vehicle to slip away.
On Jan. 30, 2015, the load vehicle committed a traffic violation as it was traveling eastbound on Interstate 40 in Canadian County, Oklahoma. As an OHP trooper stopped the load car, Asfour crashed the escort vehicle into the OHP cruiser. Asfour and the co-defendant were arrested and charged with drug trafficking and weapons violations.
At sentencing, Asfour faces up to 20 years in prison on the interstate-travel count, plus three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. He also faces up to 30 years in prison on the possession-with-intent-to-distribute count, in addition to three years of supervised release and a $1,000,000 fine. Finally, he will be sentenced to at least five years in prison and possibly up to life imprisonment on the firearm count, a sentence which will run consecutive to the sentences for all other counts, in addition to five years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.
Reference is made to the superseding indictment and other public filings for further information.
This case is the result of an investigation by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; and the Drug Enforcement Administration. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Edward J. Kumiega and Nicholas J. Patterson.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
