Probationer caught with gun, drugs gets 10 years in prison
A local felon on probation who was arrested last summer after guns and drugs were found in her possession following a routine traffic stop was sentenced to 10 years in prison Thursday after pleading guilty in Garland County Circuit Court.
Kaitlin Victoria Coleman, 24, of Hot Springs, pleaded guilty to simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms and possession of drug paraphernalia and was sentenced to 10 years in prison on each count, to run concurrently, while additional felony charges of theft by receiving of a firearm, possession of meth with purpose to deliver, possession of a firearm by certain persons and possession of clonazepam were withdrawn.
According to the probable cause affidavit, on Aug. 28, 2020, shortly after 4 a.m., Hot Springs police Officer Will Stockwell made a traffic stop on a red Pontiac Vibe at the corner of
Reserve and Opera streets after noting the car had a defective headlight.
He made contact with the driver, identified as Coleman, and discovered she was on active probation with a search waiver on file, so he had her exit the car to search it.
Officers located a loaded Beretta .25-caliber handgun under the driver’s seat and an unloaded Smith and Wesson Model 733 handgun between the driver’s seat and center console. A computer check later revealed the Beretta had been reported stolen out of Jefferson County.
Officers also found a baggie in the driver’s side door pocket containing 0.6 gram of what later tested positive for meth. In the center console, officers found digital scales and a bag of what appeared to be meth but was later determined to be a counterfeit substance, 15.1 grams.
Officers also found a glass pipe with meth residue and four clonazepam pills on the driver’s seat.
Coleman had pleaded guilty on July 15, 2019, in Garland County Circuit Court to possession of a controlled substance, meth, and possession of drug paraphernalia, amended from an original charge of simultaneous possession of drugs and a firearm, and was sentenced to six years’ probation.
Coleman was released on Aug. 31 on a $75,000 bond and pleaded not guilty to the charges on Dec. 8.