MARSHALL, Texas - An Atlanta, Texas, lawyer caught smuggling meth into the Cass County jail last year was sentenced to four years in federal prison this week.
Bryan Lee Simmons, 50, is currently ineligible to practice law in the Lone Star State, according to the State Bar of Texas website. Simmons appeared Thursday for sentencing in the Marshall Division of the Eastern District of Texas before U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap.
Gilstrap imposed a 48-month federal prison sentence to be followed by three years of supervised release. Should Simmons break the law or otherwise violate the conditions of his supervised release, he could be ordered to spend additional time behind bars.
Simmons has been in custody since his arrest in August 2019. Following his arrest, Cass County District Attorney Courtney Shelton said Texas Rangers had been investigating Simmons for at least a month and had him under surveillance. At that time, Simmons was arrested on state drug and weapons charges.
A federal indictment charging with federal crimes lists four counts including conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, and two counts of carrying a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense. Simmons pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge in September.
The remaining counts were dismissed at sentencing on an oral motion by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Hornok. Simmons was represented by Assistant Federal Public Defender Kenneth Hawk.
Simmons' arrest last year is not his first.
In 2009, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers arrested Simmons for allegedly driving while intoxicated in Bowie County. He was on his way to the Bowie County Courthouse in New Boston, Texas, where he was expected to give opening arguments for the defense in a murder trial.
Simmons was involved in a single-car accident June 16, 2009, on state Highway 8. Simmons was suspected of being intoxicated and booked into the Bowie County jail in Texarkana, Texas, according to records. He was released the same day on a personal recognizance bond.
A mistrial was declared in the murder case and Simmons was later ordered by retired 102nd District Judge John Miller to reimburse the county $318 for the cost of the 53-member jury panel.
Records show the DWI charge was filed in Bowie County Court at Law as driving while intoxicated, first offense, but later dismissed in 2011.