Farmington Man On Federal Probation

FARMINGTON —A Farmington man facing felony assault and kidnapping charges is on federal probation for felony possession of child pornography, according to court records with U.S. District Court, Western District of Arkansas.

Jimmy D. Morell, 29, of 381 S. Hunter St., was arrested July 26 by the Farmington police and is facing felony charges of aggravated assault, aggravated robbery, battery second degree and kidnapping. He also is facing charges of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. He has an Aug. 8 court date on the charges in Washington County Circuit Court.

Morell was sentenced in U.S. District Court on Feb. 14, 2005, to 92 months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release for felony possession of child pornography which traveled in interstate commerce by computer, according to U.S. District Court records.

Court records show that a petition for a federal warrant against Morell was filed July 31 stemming from the recent Farmington arrest. This petition said that Morell violated the conditions of his supervised release which state that the defendant shall not commit another federal, state or local crime and and that the defendant shall not purchase, possess or distribute a controlled substance.

Court records show that a U.S. probation officer met with Morell at the county detention center on July 29 to obtain a drug test. The officer reported that Morell admitted to smoking marijuana and that the drug test result was positive for marijuana.

The Farmington arrest is the result of an investigation of an incident that occurred July 14, according to the Farmington police.

The victim, a 24-year-old woman from Fayetteville, said Morell picked her up at about 2 a. m. on East Main Street, nea r the Fayetteville city limits in a red truck. The suspect indicated to the victim he was delivering newspapers and asked her if she wanted to help.

A police report states that the victim did not want to help and asked Morell if he would give her a ride to Green Oak Station.

The arrest report says that Morell pulled out a gun while the truck was stopped at the traffic light at South Hunter and East Main streets and robbed the victim. A struggle ensued while the victim attempted to get out of the truck. The report says that the gun went off as the victim escaped the truck. Morell ran over her leg with the truck, the report states.

After getting out of the truck, the victim went to a house on Bois D’Arc Street and called 911.

Sgt. Mike Wilbanks said Morell was previously arrested by the Farmington police on Dec 21, 2012, and charged with terroristic threatening 1st degree, aggravated assault, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct, all felonies, and a misdemeanor charge of carrying a weapon.

According to the report from that incident, Morell’s neighbors called the police claiming that the defendant was threatening them and throwing rocks and cinder blocks at them.

A spokeswoman with the Washington County Prosecuting Attorney’s office said the charges against Morell in December 2012 were nol prossed or dropped because of insufficient evidence.

Officer Chad Parrish said Morell is a registered sexual offender, Level 2, with the Farmington Police Department.

Morell