Man pleads guilty in deadly Tucson Amtrak shootout

One of the men involved in the 2021 Amtrak shooting in downtown Tucson that killed a Drug Enforcement Administration agent pleaded guilty on Wednesday.

Devonte Okeith Mathis, 24, of Mesquite, Texas, plead guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana, using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, said a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona.

Mathis is scheduled to be sentenced on May 24.

“Yesterday was an important step in securing justice on behalf of a federal law enforcement agent,” said United States Attorney Gary Restaino in the news release. “We await the sentencing in this matter. In the meantime, we celebrate Michael Garbo’s life of service, we mourn with his family and his colleagues at the Drug Enforcement Administration, and we remember his end of watch on October 4, 2021.”

On Oct. 4, 2021, Mathis and Darrion Taylor, 26, traveled together on an Amtrak train in Tucson.

A DEA agent saw them sitting in the same row but on opposite sides of the aisle. The agent then saw Mathis move several bags a few rows away and return to his seat, the Arizona Daily Star previously reported.

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Mathis told the agents the bags weren’t his. When the bags were opened, agents found 2.39 kilograms of marijuana, marijuana edibles and other products related to the drug, the Star reported.

Garbo was killed in a shootout that erupted soon after agents approached Taylor. Two other DEA agents were wounded.

Taylor also was killed in the shootout.

Mathis admitted that he knew Taylor had two handguns and that it was possible he’d use them, the release said.