Department of Justice
For Immediate Release
Career Offender Sentenced to Over 21 Years in Federal Prison for Drugs and Firearm Charges
Fayetteville, Arkansas – David Clay Fowlkes, First Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas announced that, Travis Toss Shell, age 39, was sentenced today to 262 months in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release on one count of Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine and one count of Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Offense. The Honorable Judge Timothy L. Brooks presided over the sentencing hearings today in the United States District Court in Fayetteville.
On January 6, 2020, detectives with the 4th Judicial District Drug Task Force were attempting to locate Shell, based on information that he was selling methamphetamine and had an active warrant for his arrest. Shell was located in the parking lot of a hotel in Springdale driving a Chevrolet Impala. Detectives attempted to stop Shell in the parking lot. After Detectives identified themselves as police, Shell put the vehicle in reverse and fled. After crashing his vehicle, Shell fled on foot, discarded a loaded firearm, and traversed across the interstate during heavy traffic. Detectives searched the vehicle and located a distribution amount of methamphetamine in the console area of the vehicle.
The methamphetamine was subsequently sent to the Arkansas State Crime Lab and tested positive for 28.2 grams of methamphetamine.
Shell was indicted by a federal grand jury in March of 2020 and entered a guilty plea in August of 2020. This case was investigated by the State of Arkansas Fourth (4th) Judicial District Drug Task Force. Assistant United States Attorney David Harris prosecuted the case for the Western District of Arkansas.
This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.
###