Man arrested in 2018 drug raid sentenced to prison on multiple charges
A local man arrested last year when Hot Springs police executed a search warrant on his apartment was sentenced to four years in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty to multiple felony charges.
Thomas Charles Johnson Jr., 43, who has remained in custody since his arrest Sept. 7, pleaded guilty in Garland County Circuit Court to possession of drug paraphernalia, amended from an original charge of simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms, unauthorized use of another person’s property to facilitate certain crimes, first-degree forgery and possession of a controlled substance, ecstasy, and was sentenced to 10 years on each count, with six years suspended, all to run concurrently.
Two additional felony counts of possession of drug paraphernalia, a felony charge of possession of a defaced firearm and a misdemeanor count of possession of a controlled substance, marijuana, were withdrawn as part of the plea deal. In addition to prison time, Johnson was fined $2,000 and ordered to pay $315 in court costs.
A woman, Laura Gail Rochester, 43, arrested in the same raid was charged with a felony count of possession of drug paraphernalia, punishable by up to six years in prison. The charge was reduced to a misdemeanor on April 3 and remanded back to Garland County District Court where Rochester pleaded no contest on May 2 and was sentenced to six months’ probation and ordered to pay $960 in court costs.
According to the probable cause affidavit, on Sept. 7, shortly after 6 a.m., officers with the HSPD Special Investigations-Narcotics Unit utilized the department’s SWAT team to execute the search warrant on the couple’s Second Street apartment and reportedly located Johnson and Rochester in the master bedroom.
Investigators searched the residence and in the master bedroom found three sets of digital scales, a loaded 9-mm pistol with the serial number defaced, a glass smoking pipe, a box of ammunition and an AJAX container with a false bottom which contained two bags of marijuana, a total of 11.6 grams.
They also found a loaded .22-caliber revolver, two counterfeit $20 bills, two baggies with white residue and two ecstasy pills. In the kitchen, they located three unloaded gun magazines.
It was noted the apartment belongs to a local real estate company and is located 820 feet from Jones Park.