A drug dealer arrested earlier this year on multiple charges was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges Monday in Garland County Circuit Court.
Jonathan David Forte, 24, who has remained in custody in lieu of $40,000 since his arrest May 28, pleaded guilty to two counts of delivery of meth and two counts of unauthorized use of another person's property to facilitate a crime, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison on each count, to run concurrently, while additional felony charges of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, maintaining a drug premises and two counts of unlawful use of a communications device were withdrawn.
Forte's six years probation from a conviction on Dec. 12, 2017, for two counts of breaking or entering was also revoked with the six-year sentence to run concurrent with his other sentence. He was also ordered to pay $315 in court costs.
According to the probable cause affidavit, between Jan. 1 and March 31 this year, investigators with the 18th Judicial District East Drug Task Force conducted two controlled purchases of meth from two men, one of whom was identified as Forte, at a predetermined location in Hot Springs.
During the first purchase, Forte entered the confidential informant's vehicle and handed him a plastic bag of meth. He left and then returned moments later with a digital scale which the informant used to weigh the meth. The informant told him the weight was off prompting Forte to tell the informant to call the other man.
Agents conducting surveillance on the exchange noted they could hear the informant telling the other man the meth was "not weighing right and only weighed 3.2 grams." The man told the informant to send Forte back inside and Forte leaves again. He returned moments later and the informant gave him money and Forte gave him a second bag of meth.
During the second purchase, Forte again got in the informant's vehicle and handed him a bag of meth. The informant told Forte, "I need another ball." A ball refers to 3.5 grams of meth. Forte offers to see if the other man has another ball and then walks to a nearby white SUV the second man was in. The other man told Forte that was all he had and the informant asked the second man, "You want $140?" Then the informant paid the second man for the drugs received from Forte.
The affidavit notes the amount of meth in both purchases was more than 2 grams but less than 10 grams and a cellphone was used to arrange the exchanges. It was also noted the address where the exchanges occurred was owned by a rental agency.
Forte was arrested on May 28 and pleaded not guilty to the charges on July 1.
Local on 10/01/2019