Short-lived freedom: Amarillo man arrested on new federal drug charge within months of release

AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - An Amarillo man who fled from police to avoid a federal arrest warrant now faces a new charge in the same court.

On May 31, a patrol officer with Amarillo Police Department saw a car that matched the description of a man matching the description of a wanted person, Brandon Cruz Perales.

The officer attempted to conduct a traffic stop but the driver accelerated in an attempt to get away.

Perales led police on a pursuit that ended when his car wrecked into the front yard of a home and became disabled.

He was able to get out of the car and began to run from police on foot.

After a short chase through the neighborhood, patrol officers were able to take Perales into custody.

Police searched Perales’ car and found a black backpack hidden inside the engine compartment, according to court documents. Inside the backpack, officers found 87 grams of methamphetamine and 13 grams of cocaine.

Police also found several pills of what police suspected were hydrocodone or fentanyl in Perales’ possession.

He was arrested on an outstanding warrant for violating the terms of his supervised release from federal prison and transported to Randall County Jail.

Several days later, a Task Force Officer for the Drug Enforcement Administration interviewed Perales, who waived his rights and agreed to talk to the officer.

He told the officer that when APD tried to pull him over, he panicked because he knew he had a warrant for violating the terms of his release.

In the court documents, Perales explained that after he crashed the car, he ran on foot to avoid being caught. The pills found in his possession were hydrocodone and not fentanyl, according to Perales.

Perales reported that he began using drugs in March after his release from prison and started “hustling” in April.

He told the agent that he only sold methamphetamine and the cocaine was for personal use. He denied selling anything more than a quarter ounce of methamphetamine at a time.

In May 2017, a judge sentenced Perales to 120 months in federal prison for methamphetamine distribution.

The conviction was the result of an undercover APD officer arranging to buy three ounces of meth from two co-defendants.

The undercover officer waited at the meet location until a co-defendant arrived with Perales to deliver the meth. Perales was identified as the main supplier for the two other defendants.

He was released from prison February 24 and was to begin serving a term of five years supervised release — similar to parole.

According to paperwork filed for his arrest warrant, Perales first reported to the probation officer on March 5 for his supervised release intake and then vanished.

The documents for his violations show that all efforts to make contact with Perales through phone calls, texts, and home visits were unsuccessful.

Citing his lack of employment, failure to report, and a single drug test given in April that gave a positive result for methamphetamine the probation office asked the court to issue a warrant for Perales’ arrest.

“Given Mr. Perales’ ongoing noncompliance and absconding,” reads the petition from the probation officer. “All attempts to bring him into compliance have been exhausted.”

Federal prosecutors filed a motion to revoke supervised release on June 3, the same day Perales’ new federal charges were filed.

The petition outlines several possible outcomes for Perales.

If his supervised release is revoked, he faces up to 13 months in prison. The judge may also give him a longer term of supervised release.

Additionally, the revocation will add to his criminal history and increase the punishment range for his new, pending federal charge.

Perales remains in custody in Randall County Jail on a federal hold.