Dallas Drug Dealer of Murdering 19-Year-Old Sentenced to Life in Prison

A local drug dealer convicted of killing a Dallas teenager was sentenced to life in federal prison Tuesday evening following an investigation by the FBI’s Dallas Violent Gangs Safe Streets Task Force, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Erin Nealy Cox.

In November, following a four-day trial, a federal jury found Freddie Gilbert, 36, guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, discharging a firearm during a drug trafficking crime, and murder resulting from the use of a firearm in during a drug trafficking crime.

“Far too often, drug trafficking spurs horrific acts of violence,” said U.S. Attorney Nealy Cox. “In this case, a known cocaine dealer legally barred from possessing a weapon gunned down an innocent 19-year-old, then shoved her in the trunk like a piece of trash. He will spend the rest of his life behind bars.” 

"Today's sentence should send a message to other violent drug dealers," said FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge Matthew J. DeSarno. "The FBI will work with our law enforcement partners to protect the community through aggressive investigation and prosecution of violent offenders and drug traffickers.

According to evidence presented at trial, Mr. Gilbert, an avowed cocaine dealer, shot and killed 19-year-old Jacquisha Isaac on Oct. 29, 2017.

Forensic evidence showed that Mr. Gilbert shot Ms. Isaac through the head while she was sitting in the passenger seat of his car.  He likely fired the fatal shot through the window, while standing outside the vehicle, then stashed her body in the trunk and took off, prosecutors said. Hours later, Mr. Gilbert was apprehended driving more than 110 mph down I-20. 

Investigators identified Ms. Isaac’s blood inside the car, as well as on the clothing Mr. Gilbert was wearing when he was apprehended and on the revolver he used to kill the young girl. They also discovered a bullet he had purchased the day before covered in Ms. Isaac’s blood on the floorboard, gun residue on Mr. Gilbert’s hands, and his palm print on the trunk of the car where he’d stashed her body.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office, the Texas Department of Public Safety, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys P.J. Meitl and Tiffany Eggers prosecuted the case. U.S. District Judge Jane Boyle handed down the sentence.