A 2015 multi-agency operation dubbed Flashback that targeted methamphetamine distribution in Texarkana and surrounding areas has resulted in federal prison sentences for a number of offenders.
Jay Dee Doolin, 54, of Hooks, Texas, is one of the last defendants named in a 43-count, 2015 indictment accusing 31 defendants of methamphetamine trafficking and weapons offenses in the Texarkana Division of the Eastern District of Texas. Doolin was taken into custody Friday morning by U.S. Marshals after U.S. District Judge Robert Schroeder III sentenced him to an eight-year term as part of a plea agreement.
Doolin's lawyer, Michael Peek of Texarkana, asked Schroeder to allow Doolin to remain free on the bond set for him following his arrest in November 2015. Peek said Doolin needs time to lease his home so his mortgage payments don't burden his family. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Locker opposed the request and pointed out that Doolin has had many months to get his affairs in order.
Schroeder agreed with Locker, noting that the drug-related offense to which Doolin has admitted he is guilty of committing includes a presumption of detention.
Schroeder told Doolin and Peek he has taken many factors into consideration, including the seriousness of the offense, the need for the court's judgment to promote respect for the law and the goal of deterring others from like criminal behavior.
"You are the 25th defendant I have sentenced," Schroeder said of the Flashback defendants. "I have tried to be fair to each defendant and fair to each defendant as compared to the larger group."
According to a factual basis filed in Doolin's case, he received shipments of methamphetamine from a supplier in Dallas that he distributed in the Texarkana area during 2014.
Doolin must forfeit a truck and firearms as part of his agreement. Peek has filed a motion on behalf of Doolin's mother claiming ownership of some of the 43 weapons the government sought to have Doolin forfeit. Peek said he and the government are close to resolving the firearms issue. On an oral motion from Locker, Schroeder dismissed six other counts in the indictment that allege Doolin is guilty of selling meth on specific dates and of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking offense. Following his release from federal prison, Doolin will be supervised by federal authorities for five years.
Flashback defendants Joshua Thompson, 36, and Kyle Davis, 31, received 22-year sentences for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Others have received sentences of 12, 10 and 8 years or less, with the lowest thus far being 15 months in federal prison.
Operation Flashback was a two-year investigation involving dozens of law enforcement agencies to stem the flow through Texarkana of methamphetamine manufactured in drug cartel-run super-labs in Mexico. At a press conference in October 2015, officials said the defendants arrested on state and federal charges in Flashback are responsible for trafficking and distributing more than 1,000 kilograms of meth through the Interstate 30 corridor to Northeast Texas, Southwest Arkansas and beyond.