The former administrative assistant for County Judge Rick Davis, who left her position at the end of May, was arrested alongside her husband Friday after they were allegedly found in possession of narcotics near the Garland County Courts Building.
Kristi Lyn Goss, 42, who lists a Stearns Point Drive address, and Dennis Goss, who lists a Rush Fork Road address, were taken into custody at 11:30 a.m. Friday and each charged with felony counts of possession of methamphetamine with purpose to deliver, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, and unauthorized use of another person's property to facilitate a crime, punishable by up to six years.
Dennis Goss was also charged with a felony count of possession of drug paraphernalia, punishable by up to six years. Kristi Goss is set to appear Aug. 1 and Dennis Goss is set to appear Aug. 8 in Garland County District Court. Both have been released on bail.
According to the arrest affidavits, Dennis Goss, while attempting to enter the courts building, set off the metal detector several times and was instructed to remove all items from his pockets. He had two cigarette packs in his left pocket, but tried to conceal one of them. He was instructed to place both in a bin, but claimed the one cigarette pack was "trash."
Dennis Goss finally complied and placed the pack inside the bin. The pack allegedly contained a blue plastic bag containing a rocky substance. Goss was detained, and the 18th Judicial District East Drug Task Force was notified.
DTF investigators reportedly determined Dennis Goss was in possession of approximately 1.6 grams and 0.2 gram of suspected meth and $657. He stated he drove to the courthouse and his wife was waiting inside their van for him.
The investigators knocked on the door of the van and made contact with Kristi Goss, who reportedly reached into her purse as investigators asked her to step out. She exited the van and stated her purse was in the back of the van. Inside the purse was a pill bottle with the label partially torn off and investigators noticed the name on the bottle had been torn away. The bottle contained approximately 2.8 grams of Concerta and an envelope containing $7,500 was located in a laptop case.
At the Garland County Detention Center, Dennis Goss allegedly stated he had purchased and sold the narcotics to subjects in Garland County for three weeks. He had purchased the meth three days before his arrest on Friday. The vehicle was also found to be registered to a different subject.
Kristi Goss allegedly stated the pills were found in her apartment when she moved in a month ago and she placed them in her purse to turn into the condo's office at a later time. She forgot they were inside her purse until investigators found them Friday.
Kristi Goss allegedly admitted to purchasing Adderall pills from subjects in the past because "it gave her more energy to clean her house." She continued to state she did not plan to consume or sell the pills. The drug task force seized $8,158 from the couple.
The DTF is composed of officers from the Hot Springs Police Department, Garland County Sheriff's Department, Arkansas State Police, the 18th Judicial District East prosecuting attorney's office and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations.
Local on 07/26/2016