2025-11-17 Salazar

#event/trial/verdict/guilty #event/sentencing/TDCJ/60-years #people/S/Salazar/Leopoldo #county/Potter

Amarillo man sentenced to 60 years in prison for drug possession

AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - An Amarillo man will spend 60 years in prison for drug possession.

Court documents show that in November 2024, an officer with Amarillo Police Department was on patrol when he saw a Hyundai driving west on Amarillo Boulevard with a broken rear tail light.

The officer pulled the car over near North Cleveland Street and East Amarillo Boulevard and told the driver, Leopoldo Thomas Salazar II, why he stopped him.

Observing that the driver seemed nervous, the officer asked to search the car and got consent.

A search turned up a container in the center console that contained what was confirmed by laboratory testing as 5.32 grams of methamphetamine.

Salazar, 43, will spend 60 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of drug possession.

Salazar, 43, will spend 60 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of drug possession.(Potter County Sheriff's Office)

Salazar was booked into Potter County Detention Center on a charge of drug possession, more than 4 grams but less than 200 grams.

The charge is a second-degree felony and carries a punishment range of up to 20 years in prison.

One month later, Salazar was pulled over again near Northeast 3rd Avenue and North Grand Street.

The officer found Salazar in possession of drugs and arrested him. Salazar was booked into PCDC on a state felony drug possession charge.

A Potter County grand jury indicted Salazar in February for his second-degree felony offense and March for the state felony.

The indictments included an enhancement paragraph for drug offenses committed in 2006 and 2008. The enhancement categorized Salazar as a habitual offender and increased his punishment range.

In addition to his state drug convictions, Salazar pleaded guilty to federal drug charges in 2014 as part of the Omar Mendoza drug trade organization takedown.

In his federal case, court records show that he pleaded guilty to selling an undercover agent a quarter-ounce of methamphetamine for $375.

Salazar chose to take his charge to trial and asked that the jury decide both guilt and punishment.

After a two-day jury trial late last month, the jury deliberated for an hour before returning with a guilty verdict.

The next day, the jury deliberated for an hour before returning with a sentence of 60 years in prison for Salazar.