Former Breckenridge resident sentenced to 8 years for firearms charge
Former Breckenridge resident Michael Perales has been sentenced to eight years in prison on federal charges related to being a felon in possession of firearms, according to a media release issued by the Stephens County Sheriff’s Office.
Michael Perales
Perales was arrested in the Dallas-Fort Worth area by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on Nov. 22, 2017, on the federal charges. He had been indicted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Abilene earlier that month.
The case stemmed from the reported theft of several firearms that were stolen from a house in the Crystal Falls area of Stephens County last year. Perales was arrested on Oct. 10 by the Stephens County Sheriff’s Office for being a felon in unlawful possession of firearms. Stephens County Sheriff Will Holt said that Perales was on federal probation for bank robbery at the time of his arrest in Breckenridge. He had moved to Breckenridge with his girlfriend and was supposed to be living in another town.
After the Breckenridge arrest, Perales bonded out of jail, and he and his girlfriend left Breckenridge, the sheriff said. The local law enforcement contacted Perales’ federal probation officer and the ATF to see if they would be interested in taking the case, in light of Perales’ lengthy criminal history and prior convictions on the federal level. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Abilene indicted him and prosecuted the case, and the ATF made the actual arrest.
According to the U.S. District Court judgment document, Perales pleaded guilty to the charge of “Convicted Felon in Possession of Firearms and Ammunition” and appeared for sentencing in the case on April 20.
“The maximum sentence he could have been ordered to serve was 120 months, so the Sheriff’s Office is pleased with this stiff punishment handed down by the federal court (8 out of a possible 10 years),” Sheriff Will Holt said in the media release.
Upon release from that sentence, Perales will be under federal supervision for three years. He must also still be sentenced for violating conditions of his original federal supervision, which was for the past bank robbery conviction in another part of the state. Any sentence handed down for that will run consecutive to the eight years for the firearms possession.
