Decatur County Sentenced For Resisting Arrest By Federal Officer

JACKSON, Tenn.- 37-year-old Anthony Ray Phoenix, of Decatur County, has been sentenced to 100 months in federal prison for resisting arrest by a federal officer. Joseph C. Murphy, Jr., United States Attorney, announced the sentence Tuesday.

In November 2019, Tennessee Highway Patrol officers requested the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service in locating and apprehending Anthony Ray Phoenix on active warrants for fleeing from patrolmen. Additionally, the Marshals determined Phoenix was wanted for a Tennessee State Probation violation, assault, and battery in Kentucky, resisting arrest in Texas, and a probation violation in Idaho. He was also known to be affiliated with the Aryan Nation Gang.

On December 2, 2019, members of the United States Marshals Service Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force, along with local law enforcement and special agents of the Tennessee Department of Corrections, located Phoenix at a residence in Decatur County, Tennessee.

Phoenix fled from law enforcement officers through the backyard, a barbed-wire fence, and down a road at a high rate of speed before turning around and heading back through the same backyard towards the residence. He continued traveling at a high rate of speed, through another fence, into the original backyard, and directly toward a Deputy U.S. Marshal and a Special Agent with the Tennessee Department of Corrections. With a fence to the Deputies’ right and the residence behind, the Deputy Marshal had no way to escape and in fear for his safety, fired his weapon in the direction of the vehicle.

Phoenix was subsequently taken into custody; all parties were uninjured. While interviewed by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation special agents, he admitted knowing law enforcement officers were pursuing him, as he attempted to evade arrest.

He pled guilty on January 25, 2022.

At sentencing, the Government sought, and the Court found, an increase in the sentence because he created a substantial risk of bodily injury by driving his vehicle toward the Deputy Marshal and the TDOC Special Agent to evade apprehension by fleeing.

On May 9, 2022, Chief United States District Judge S. Thomas Anderson sentenced Phoenix to 100 months of incarceration with three years of supervised release to follow. There is no parole in the federal system.

“Law enforcement are public servants that place their lives on the line every day, enforcing laws throughout our communities. Sadly, physical danger is part of what it means to wear a badge. But trying to hurt a Deputy United States Marshal has serious consequences. We are glad our Deputy Marshal wasn’t seriously injured, and this case has concluded,” said U.S. Marshal Tyreece Miller.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Marshals Service, Tennessee Department of Correction, Decatur County Sheriff’s Department, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

Assistant United States Attorney Christie Hopper prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.