A local man and woman were sentenced to prison time Tuesday after pleading guilty to felony drug charges in Garland County Circuit Court as prosecutors continue to cope with restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Clarence Albert Glenn Jr., 63, was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of possession of a controlled substance, meth, stemming from a traffic stop on Oct. 20, 2019, which was to run concurrently with the revocation of a five-year suspended sentence he received on Oct. 7, 2019, for possession of drug paraphernalia.
Sara Elizabeth Caubble, 39, was sentenced to eight years in prison, with four years suspended, after pleading guilty to one count of possession of a controlled substance, meth, stemming from her arrest on Sept. 9, 2018, while two additional felony charges of possession of drug paraphernalia and a felony failure to appear were withdrawn.
"It's very difficult to do hearings now because the public defender can't be there for their client," Deputy Prosecutor Trent Daniels, who represented the state on both cases, said Wednesday.
"So we mostly focus on cases where the sentences were agreed upon in advance and drug cases where there is no victim," he said, noting other hearings where a victim is involved or the defendant has to have their attorney present have been "put on hold or rescheduled" until the situation changes.
The hearings are conducted via video with the defendants appearing from the Garland County Detention Center.
"Both of these were simple cases where drugs were found after traffic stops," Daniels said, noting the prosecutor's office has been operating "with somewhat of a skeleton crew" during the pandemic.
"We're still running the office and doing cases as we can, but it's definitely been a challenge."
According to the probable cause affidavit on Glenn's case, on Oct. 20, 2019, shortly after 4 p.m., Arkansas State Police Trooper Ryan Wingo made a traffic stop on a green 2009 Dodge Journey with expired tags on North Ross Maddox Road.
He made contact with the driver, identified as Glenn, who told him the vehicle was not his and he didn't know the registration had expired. A computer check revealed Glenn had a suspended license and that he was an active parolee with a search waiver on file.
In searching the vehicle, Wingo located a pool stick bag containing two pool sticks and hidden in a small pocket in front of the bag was a clear baggie with 4 grams of what later tested positive for meth. Glenn claimed the pool stick bag belonged to the owner of the vehicle and not him, but couldn't provide the full name of the vehicle's owner so he was arrested.
According to the probable cause affidavit on Caubble's case, on Sept. 9, 2018, around 10 p.m., Hot Springs police Officer 1st Class Zachary Brown spotted a green Jeep in the parking lot of Mapco, 4139 Central Ave., which he remembered having fictitious tags from an attempted traffic stop a few weeks earlier in which the vehicle evaded him.
A check of the license plate showed it was reported stolen, so he made contact with the driver and sole occupant, identified as Caubble, noting she "appeared extremely nervous" and denied any knowledge of the stolen plate.
Caubble told him she didn't have any ID and initially gave him another woman's name, but after Brown determined the name was false he took her into custody for theft and obstructing government operations.
Caubble had been carrying a large purse and an ID identifying her as Caubble was found inside. Also in the purse was a sunglasses case with 14 unused syringes and one syringe with 20 units of what later tested positive for meth. The purse also contained a spoon with meth residue and digital scales.
After she was arrested, Caubble was searched and two baggies of meth, a total of 2.1 grams, and a Xanax pill were found in her bra. She was released on Sept. 16, 2018, on a $7,500 bond and the case was postponed numerous times as various motions were filed by her attorneys.
She later failed to appear for a hearing on Jan. 8, 2020, and a warrant was issued for her arrest. She was arrested on Jan. 13 and had remained in custody since then.
Local on 04/17/2020