Drug Trafficking and Criminal Street Gang Leader Sentenced to 30 Years, Without Parole
DALLAS — U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor departed upward from the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines today and sentenced Patrick Weatherall, 33, to serve a total of 30 years in state and federal prison, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. Weatherall, a leader of a drug trafficking and criminal street gang in Dallas called the West Side Gator Boys,
pleaded guilty in June 2010 to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine base (crack cocaine). He has been in federal custody since he and more than a dozen other members of the West Side Gator Boys were arrested in March 2010, in an operation led by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Dallas Police Department’s (DPD) Gang Unit.
At today’s sentencing hearing, an officer with the DPD Gang Unit testified that over the past 10 years, Patrick, and his brother Tyrone Weatherall, were the leaders of the gang. He further testified that they ran dangerous and armed drug houses within feet of the local elementary and high schools and took over
the entire neighborhood. In addition, Patrick recruited several children, as young as age 14, into the drug trade. While the defense argued that Patrick Weatherall was a gentle and loving man,
the officer detailed his violent repeat offending criminal history, including the aggravated kidnapping and brutal beating of his ex-wife, while he was wanted for other offenses. Weatherall has been arrested well over a dozen times. During the course of the conspiracy, officers and agents seized approximately 40.3 grams of crack and 439.8 grams of marijuana from the conspiracy members. Two firearms, 10.2 grams of crack and 439.8 grams of marijuana were seized from Patrick Weatherall.
Tyrone Weatherall pleaded guilty in August 2010 to the same offense and is scheduled to be sentenced on November 19, 2010. Tyrone Weatherall admitted that he used the drug trafficking proceeds to purchase exotic animals, horses, land, houses and at least one car. He acquired several horses that resided on his West Dallas ranch, five houses and a BMW. Tyrone Weatherall also admitted using drug proceeds to acquire four houses on Life Avenue in Dallas; one house on a lake (Comanche Trail) in Grand Prairie, Texas, and four lots on Barree Drive in Dallas. Tyrone Weatherall will be required to forfeit the ranch, horses, and multiple houses. This investigation is being conducted by ATF and the DPD. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brandon McCarthy and Cara Foos Pierce are in charge of the prosecution.
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