Fayetteville man must finish prison sentence

BENTONVILLE — A Fayetteville man apparently will have to return to prison after mistakenly being released without completing his sentence.

Darius Collier, 25, has been free almost three years, but now must complete a 10-year sentence issued by Benton County Circuit Judge Robin Green when she revoked his probation.

Green asked last month for Jay Saxton, Collier’s attorney, and Thomas Gean, deputy prosecutor, to research whether she still had jurisdiction in the case.

Saxton said at a hearing Monday he didn’t think Green had any jurisdiction in the case and couldn’t alter his client’s sentence.

Collier was sentenced in November 2018 in Washington County to 24 months in the Arkansas Department of Corrections, and a short time later was sentenced in Benton County to 10 years in prison. He was released on parole after serving the Washington County sentence but didn’t complete the 10-year Benton County sentence.

The case stems from an arrest Oct. 24, 2014, through a Benton County Sheriff’s Office investigation to identify and arrest people involved in prostitution, according to court documents.

Deputies arrested a 17-yearold female who showed up at a Rogers hotel. The teen said Collier dropped her off there, according to court documents.

Collier said the teen promised to give him $50 to bring her to the hotel, according to court documents.

He pleaded guilty in January 2017 to conspiracy to commit trafficking of persons. He was sentenced to four months in jail and placed on 10 years of state-supervised probation.

He was arrested again in July 2018 in Washington County for failing to register as a sex offender. He pleaded guilty in November 2018 and was sentenced to 24 months in prison.

Green revoked his probation in February 2019 and sentenced him to 10 years in the Arkansas Department of Correction. He had to serve one-sixth of the sentence — 20 months — before being eligible for parole.

Collier was released from prison April 19, 2019, Saxton said.

Saxton said he was trying to reach the Department of Correction to be able to tell Collier how much time he had to serve since he did serve a portion of the sentence.

Green told Collier she was without legal standing and jurisdiction to modify the previous sentencing by the court.

“I’ve been doing good while being out,” said Collier, who participated in the hearing by video conferencing. “That should count for something.”

He wanted to know how much time he will get credit for.

Green told Collier that Department of Correction representatives may be looking for him to return him to custody.

Cindy Murphy, communications director for the Department of Corrections, said an internal review found no evidence that the department received the Benton County sentencing order. Additionally, the review revealed a records employee did not properly review available sentencing information during the release clearance process.

“Corrective action will be taken against that employee consistent with Department policy,” Murphy wrote in an email. “In response to this incident, Division of Correction Director Dexter Payne is requiring all facility records staff to be retrained on proper release clearance procedures.”

Solomon Graves, secretary of corrections, issued a directive last year to establish an independent audit process designed to reduce the risk of future occurrences of this nature, Murphy said.

Nathan Smith, Benton County’s prosecuting attorney, said he’s been assured by Graves and his staff that the appropriate disciplinary and remedial measures will be taken to ensure this kind of thing doesn’t happen again.

“Arkansans have a right to expect that people sentenced to prison will serve their time and I am grateful to Secretary Graves and ADOC for working to ensure this error is not repeated,” Smith said.

Collier