Possession of drugs, stolen gun draw 3 years’ probation, fine
A Hot Springs man arrested in a traffic stop last year pleaded guilty Monday in Garland County Circuit Court to felony charges stemming from drugs and a stolen gun found in his car.
Roy Daniel Wells III, 21, who was set to stand trial today, pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance, marijuana, with purpose to deliver and theft by receiving of a firearm and was sentenced to three years’ probation on each count, to run concurrent, while an additional felony charge of simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms was withdrawn.
Wells, who lists a Southgate Street address, was also fined $3,000 and ordered to pay $545 in court costs and fees.
According to the probable cause affidavit, on Nov. 5, 2017, shortly before 10:30 p.m., Hot Springs police Officer 1st Class Rod West stopped a tan 1994 Toyota Corolla at the intersection of Central Avenue and Crawford Street after the driver, later identified as Wells, pulled through a parking lot to avoid the traffic light at Crawford and Higdon Ferry Road.
West reportedly smelled marijuana emanating from the vehicle and asked Wells for his driver’s license and proof of insurance, which he did not have.
West asked him when he had last smoked marijuana because of the smell and Wells admitted he had smoked marijuana an hour prior to the traffic stop and there was “some (marijuana) in (his) backpack.” He was asked to exit the vehicle and detained without incident and then taken into custody after it was determined he had a warrant for failure to appear.
In searching Wells, West found $315 in his pocket and three baggies with approximately 66.6 grams of marijuana and a loaded 9-mm pistol inside the backpack in the vehicle. The firearm was found to have been reported stolen from Garland County.