A Little Rock man was convicted of felony and misdemeanor drug charges after a one-day trial Wednesday in Garland County Circuit and sentenced to prison and jail time.
Steven Edwin Robinson, 45, was found guilty of a felony count of possession of a controlled substance, cocaine, and sentenced to eight years in prison and a misdemeanor count of possession of a controlled substance, marijuana, and sentenced to eight months in the Garland County Detention Center.
Robinson, who had three prior felony convictions, was also fined a total of $9,000 and ordered to pay $295 in court costs and fees upon his release. He was arrested March 10, 2014, and had been free on $3,500 bond.
Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Michelle Lawrence said the seven-man, five-woman jury only deliberated for about eight minutes to find him guilty, although it took a little longer to agree on the sentencing.
"It was a pretty straight forward drug case," she said, but shows how "citizens want drugs off the street."
Lawrence noted it was a relatively small amount of cocaine and marijuana involved, but based on his previous history the jury "obviously took this very seriously."
According to the affidavit, on March 10, around 6 p.m., Hot Springs police Officer J. Williams was driving west on Central turning onto Grand when he saw a 2000 Cadillac Deville behind him which was traveling down the centerline between two lanes for about 100 feet and then veered sharply to the left, driving on the grass median for about 75 feet.
The vehicle pulled into the lot at Broadway and Grand where Williams stopped it and made contact with the driver, identified as Robinson, who was "acting nervous" and had put a piece of candy in his mouth.
A computer check revealed he had warrants for his arrest for third-degree domestic battery and failure to appear so he was taken into custody and patted down. The officer found a small bag of white powder in his pants pocket that later tested positive for cocaine.
In searching the vehicle, the officer found two plastic bags of suspected marijuana between the driver's seat and the center console, approximately 4 grams.
Local on 05/29/2015