A Hot Springs parolee arrested following a rolling disturbance on Central Avenue in 2019 was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison Thursday on felony gun and drug charges.
Ralph Andrew Stevens, 37, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Hot Springs to prison time followed by five years of supervised release for one count of possession with intent to distribute meth and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, U.S. Attorney Clay Fowlkes of the Western District announced in a news release.
According to the probable cause affidavit, on Feb. 26, 2019, shortly before 3 a.m., Hot Springs police responded to the 2700 block of Central Avenue regarding a report of a rolling disturbance. A 911 caller stated she was in a silver Chevrolet pickup and someone in a silver Nissan Frontier pickup was "trying to ram her vehicle."
Once in the area, Officer Matthew Cheatham spotted the two vehicles traveling side by side and got behind the Nissan and the caller confirmed to a dispatcher it was the one that had been trying to ram her truck.
He made a traffic stop on the Nissan in the 1500 block of Central and once stopped, the driver, later identified as Stevens, opened the door and said, "Y'all don't understand. They stole money from me!" Stevens was told to stay in the vehicle and Cheatham noted that Stevens' wife and another male were also in the vehicle.
Stevens again stated that the woman in the Chevrolet was "supposed to be returning money that was stolen from him on a previous date." It was discovered both Stevens and his male passenger had active search waivers, so they were all removed from the vehicle and it was searched.
Officer Joey Vanderburg patted down Stevens and found a clear pipe with white residue in his jacket pocket so he was taken into custody. Asked if there was anything else in the vehicle, he admitted there was a gun under the back seat and officers retrieved a loaded 9-mm.
Stevens said there was a backpack in the front passenger seat, but officers would need a search warrant to get into it because he had put a combination lock on it.
K-9 Officer Brandon Jones and his K-9 partner came to the scene, and at that point, Stevens stated there was marijuana, "dope" and another gun in the bag. He provided the combination number and six bags of marijuana were found inside, a total of 163.6 grams or almost 6 ounces, a .380-caliber handgun and another smaller combination bag.
Stevens provided the combination for the second bag and it contained two bags of what later tested positive for meth, 101.8 grams total, digital scales, $3,196 in cash and multiple empty baggies of varying size. In the glove box, officers found another $60 and a baggie with 9-mm bullets.
Stevens reportedly stated all the drugs and other items belonged to him so his wife and the other male were released at the scene. According to the release from Fowlkes, the meth was tested at a DEA lab and it was confirmed 93.56 grams was "pure meth."
According to court records, Stevens was previously convicted of robbery in Garland County Circuit Court on July 30, 2007, and sentenced to 20 years in prison, but later paroled.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan Achorn prosecuted the case, with Judge Susan O. Hickey presiding at Thursday's sentencing, as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a program "bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make neighborhoods safer for everyone," the release said.