Former male stripper sentenced by federal judge to more than 16 years for obstructing justice

Collin Hayden
Collin Hayden

TEXARKANA, Texas -A former male stripper who was convicted by a jury of obstructing justice was sentenced Thursday to more than 16 years in prison by a federal judge in Texarkana.

Collin Garrett Hayden, 28, was acquitted by the jury of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine and of carrying a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking offense.

Hayden, however, was convicted of witness tampering/intimidation. He also pleaded guilty March 2, the first day of his trial, to possessing a weapon while being held in the Titus County jail on drug charges.

Hayden was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert Schroeder III to 200 months in federal prison for obstruction and 60 months for possession of contraband in jail. The terms will run concurrently. Following release from prison, Hayden will be supervised by federal officials for three years and could be ordered to serve additional time if he commits another crime or otherwise violates conditions of his release.

Witnesses at trial testified that Hayden and his roommate/co-defendant Timothy Harper sold drugs including methamphetamine and cocaine from Dallas area male strip clubs where they danced and in east Texas.

After his arrest, Hayden dismantled a ceiling smoke detector and its housing and then threatened correctional staff with an 8-inch bolt he later flushed down the toilet in his one-man cell. Hayden, whose forearm is adorned with a tattoo associated with white supremacist groups threatened that he would enlist such gang members to assault Harper during his incarceration.

A number of Hayden's co-defendants have pleaded guilty and been sentenced, while others named in charging documents have yet to be arrested.

Harper, Hayden's former roommate and the co-defendant he is accused of threatening, was sentenced Dec. 12, 2018, to more than 15 years in prison as part of a plea agreement on a charge of conspiracy to distribute more than 500 grams of methamphetamine. Daniel Enrique Montes-Munoz was sentenced Jan. 14 to 97 months for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

Jason Wayne McLemore was sentenced Feb. 15, 2018, to 151 months in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Gerald Clinton Davis was sentenced Oct. 15, 2018, to 120 months for the same crime.

An investigation leading to indictment was launched in 2016.

Hayden was represented at trial by Longview, Texas, lawyer Charles Van Cleef. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan Hornok and Donald Carter managed the case for the government.

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