TEXARKANA — A De Queen man’s guilty plea Monday to federal weapons violations began with an anonymous tip to a child abuse hot line.
Jamie Don Baker appeared before U.S. District Judge Harry Barnes in the Texarkana division of the Western District of Arkansas with Texarkana defense attorney John Stroud.
As part of a plea bargain, Baker pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm while using or addicted to controlled substances. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Quinn is the prosecutor.
On Jan. 14, officers with the Arkansas State Police, the Sevier County sheriff’s office and the South-Central Drug Task Force paid a visit to Baker’s residence on Arkansas 41 South after the Arkansas Department of Human Services received a hot-line call alleging children were living in the home in the presence of a methamphetamine lab, according to a search warrant affidavit.
Investigators did not find an operating methamphetamine lab at the location, but they did find two children, ages 11 and 13, and a large number of guns, the affidavit said.
Baker and his wife voluntarily submitted to drug testing and each tested positive for methamphetamine and marijuana.
The children were taken into state care because of the poor living conditions and positive drug tests of the adults in the home, the affidavit said.
The children told authorities they had seen people bring hydrocodone pills to the house and one of the children described seeing bags of a green, leafy substance.
“The 13-year-old child stated that there have been a few times that Jamie Baker told the boys to go to their room and then later he would smell a strong chemical smell that would make him sick,” the affidavit said.
On Jan. 21, a search warrant for the address was executed by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. At least 31 guns, along with ammunition and explosives, were seized, according to the affidavit, Baker’s indictment and earlier reports.
Among the weapons and related material discovered during the search were metal parts used to convert semiautomatic weapons to fully automatic machine guns. One of the children told investigators he had seen Baker fire a gun that would empty of bullets with a single pull of the trigger.
The government is seeking the forfeiture of the seized items.
Baker will return to courtfor sentencing once a report containing a recommendation for punishment under federal guidelines has been prepared. As part of the plea agreement, the government has agreed to drop a second count in Baker’s indictment that charges him with possession of machine gun components.
The agreement also indicates that Baker will be sentenced as if in possession of a single firearm instead of the 31 listed in his indictment.
Baker is free on a $5,000 bond.
Arkansas, Pages 17 on 07/28/2010