Suspect ID'd as Aryan Brotherhood member | 'Operation Blue Sky' nets 32 arrests
The girlfriend of a "high-ranking official in the Aryan Brotherhood" arrested earlier this year as part of a multiagency drug sting was sentenced to six years in prison Monday after pleading guilty to her part in drug and gun trafficking.
Darlene Ann Ashlock, 36, formerly of Hot Springs who now lists a Conway address, pleaded guilty in Garland County Circuit Court to simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms, delivery of meth, possession of meth with purpose to deliver, maintaining a drug premises, unauthorized use of another person's property to facilitate a crime and possession of drug paraphernalia and was sentenced to 20 years in prison on each count, with 14 years suspended, to run concurrently.
Ashlock, who was set to stand trial Feb. 5, was also fined a total of $5,000 and ordered to pay $630 in court costs. An additional felony charge of possession of drug paraphernalia was withdrawn as part of the plea deal.
Ashlock's boyfriend, Robert Arthur Blackstead, 55, was arrested along with her on Feb. 20 during a raid on their residence on Rockdale Road as part of "Operation Blue Sky," a multiagency sting the 18th Judicial East Drug Task Force started in January targeting meth distribution in Garland County. The operation ultimately resulted in the arrest of 32 suspects, including 21 during the last week of May, and the recovery of over 4 pounds of meth.
Federal authorities assumed all the cases against Blackstead, who was considered a major player in the drug ring, and he has since pleaded guilty to charges in U.S. District Court, with his sentence still pending, Deputy Prosecutor Trent Daniels, the acting commander of the DTF, said Tuesday.
Ashlock and Blackstead "were in a relationship," Daniels said, and had been running guns and drugs out of their residence. In the Feb. 20 raid, conducted with the assistance of the Garland County Tactical Response Team and Hot Springs police SWAT team, DTF agents were looking for some specific guns that were involved in an earlier crime.
Inside the residence, authorities located three firearms, two sets of body armor and 41 grams of meth, along with numerous items of drug paraphernalia and other narcotics. Blackstead was also served with three warrants for delivery of meth.
Daniels said the guns they were looking for were not found at the house, but Ashlock later cooperated with authorities and lead them to a storage site in the Fountain Lake area where they were able to retrieve the guns and other evidence.
He said Ashlock also agreed to plead guilty without the confidential informant involved in the case against her having to be exposed in open court.
Daniels said he was satisfied with the sentence against Ashlock in light of her cooperation and because she is now a convicted felon subject to monitoring after her release from prison for up to 14 years under the suspended sentence.
Following her Feb. 20 arrest, Ashlock was released on a $5,000 bond two days later and pleaded not guilty to the charges on May 8. She was arrested again on May 28 on the delivery of meth charge and released on a $35,000 bond on June 7, pleading not guilty to that charge on June 17.
According to the affidavit on the delivery of meth charge, between Feb. 1 and March 1, 2019, DTF agents made a controlled purchase of meth, over 2 grams but less than 10 grams, from Ashlock at "a predetermined location in Garland County." The charge against her was filed under seal on May 17 and the warrant issued on May 20.
"Operation Blue Sky," named for the particularly potent strain of meth manufactured by the fictional characters Walter White and Jesse Pinkman on the television show "Breaking Bad," ultimately led back to meth distributors who had ties to a Mexican Cartel.
Prosecutors previously noted Blackstead was "known to be a high-ranking official in the Aryan Brotherhood" which was also connected to the same drug and gun trafficking ring.
Local on 12/04/2019