TEXARKANA, Texas – A Texarkana man was sentenced to a decade in federal prison this week for possessing a sizable cache of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking.
Kenneth Deantrious Collins appeared for sentencing on Wednesday before U.S. District Judge Robert Schroeder III in Texarkana’s downtown federal courthouse. Collins entered a guilty plea at a hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge James Boone Baxter in October to one of three counts listed in an indictment charging him last year with drugs and weapons crimes, court records show.
Members of law enforcement found pistols, a shotgun, a rifle and assorted magazines and ammunition during a search of Collins’ residence in August 2024, court records show.
The search also led to the discovery of crack cocaine, methamphetamine, ecstasy and marijuana.
Collins admitted in plea documents filed in the Eastern District of Texas that he “possessed a firearm in the same location as the controlled substances to protect myself, my inventory of illegal drugs, and the proceeds from their sale during what I know to be inherently dangerous transactions.”
Charges of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and felon in possession of a firearm were dismissed at sentencing as part of Collins’ plea agreement with the government.
Upon his release from federal prison, Collins will be on supervised release for five years. If he violates terms of his supervised release, he could be ordered to serve additional time behind bars.
There is no parole from a federal prison sentence. Offenders may receive credit toward their sentences for time served while their case proceeds and may earn up to 54 days of credit per year toward their sentence for good behavior.
Collins was represented by Kenneth Hawk of the Federal Public Defender’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Richards represented the government.