Term violations return drug offender to prison

A Swifton man sentenced in 2011 to eight years in federal prison for his part in a methamphetamine ring was ordered back to prison Monday for 366 days after a hearing for numerous violations of his supervised release after a previous revocation.

Andrew Horn appeared after spending over a week in the Miller County jail in Texarkana. His original hearing on April 24 was derailed when he tested positive for drugs after arriving latein Little Rock.

Horn’s attorney, Misty Borkowski of Little Rock, argued for a creative solution to her client’s repeated violations, which she said were due to a severe meth addiction that he had so far been only sporadically successful in addressing.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Peters said repeated attempts to help Horn address his addiction had been unsuccessful and that it was perhaps time to consider allocating the resources to other offenders.

“Looking at this second phase of supervised release he’s been on from July 2020 to April 2021, we have nine positive meth tests, we have three admitted use where there was no test, 12 failures to report for testing and three times he showed up and he wouldn’t test,” she said. “That’s not somebody who wants to be in treatment.”

Horn’s original conviction stemmed from a 2010 indictment naming 31 people in Lonoke, Prairie and Pulaski counties in connection with drug and firearms trafficking offenses.

In December 2018, Horn’s supervision was revoked and he was ordered back to prison for nine months and placed on another four years supervised release following repeated violations. Horn admitted to five offenses following citations or arrests in Tuckerman, Jonesboro, Searcy and Beebe.

Peters, who asked for the maximum guideline sentence of 13 months, questioned whether continued supervised release would serve any purpose in light of Horn’s repeated violations.

She said. “He seems adamant about not complying with conditions and if he does get a term of supervised releases, chances are we’ll be right back here sending him to prison again.”

Miller acknowledged that Horn’s addiction to meth required intervention but said his repeated violations made it impossible for leniency to be considered.

“The problem for you, Mr. Horn and Ms. Borkowski, being perfectly honest, I can’t let you get up here and walk out of this courtroom after committing 20-something violations of supervised release,” Miller said.

In addition to one year and one day in prison — which allows Horn to qualify for early release for good behavior — Miller ordered him to serve four years on supervised release.