Man arrested after counterfeit money, meth found
A Benton man was arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges after counterfeit money, drugs and a stolen license plate were allegedly found in his possession following a routine traffic stop early Friday.
Vernon Ray Woodall, 63, who lists a Benton address, was taken into custody around 12:15 a.m. and charged with felony counts of first-degree forgery, punishable by up to 20 years in prison, possession of a controlled substance, meth, punishable by up to six years, and a misdemeanor count of theft of property under
$1,000, punishable by up to one year in jail.
Woodall, who is on parole, was being held on an
$8,500 bond and is set to appear on Jan. 3 in Garland County District Court. According to court records, he was convicted in Hot Spring County on Nov. 1, 2017, of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia and sentenced to 10 years in prison, but later paroled. He also has several felony drug charges pending in Saline County from a March 14 arrest.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Hot Springs police Officer Christopher Gibson was patrolling in the 3300 block of Central Avenue when he saw a red 2006 Dodge Ram pickup and a computer check showed the registration was expired.
He made a traffic stop on the truck and made contact with the driver and sole occupant, identified as Woodall, and a computer check showed he was a parolee with an active search waiver on file.
Officers conducted a search of the vehicle and allegedly found a baggie with 1.3 grams of what later tested positive for meth in the driver’s seat. It was also determined the license plate on the vehicle was reported stolen in the city.
In searching further, officers allegedly found eight counterfeit $100 bills and a counterfeit $20 bill. Gibson noted the $100 bills all had the same serial number and were different colors. They also “felt like copy paper” and didn’t have watermarks.