A federal judge Wednesday agreed to accept the terms of an agreement negotiated in November that allows lawyer Dustin Dyer of Benton to receive a probationary sentence in a drug case in return for surrendering his law license.
“I would like the court to know that over the last couple of years, I’ve done everything I could to turn my life around,” Dyer, his voice breaking, told U.S. District Judge James Moody shortly before Moody agreed to sentence Dyer to five years of probation in lieu of prison time.
Dyer pleaded guilty Nov. 5 to a charge of using a communication device, a cellphone, in furtherance of drug trafficking.In doing so, he agreed that he used his cellphone on Dec. 20, 2010, to facilitate a conspiracy to possess between 10 and 20 grams of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute it. Prosecutors dropped two other charges that accused him of being part of a methamphetamine conspiracy involving 20 defendants and intimidating a witness.
Defense attorney Bill James also told Moody that Dyer has withdrawn from “whatever wrongdoing he was engaged in,” and Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne Gardner declined to add any remarks.
Moody told Dyer that he felt “some reluctance” in accepting the negotiated resolution of the case, but, “I know you’re going to give up your law license,” noting that was a punishment itself.
He said Dyer must participate in substance-abuse treatment throughout the probationary period. The judge also ordered Dyer to perform 100 hours of community service for each year of probation, which he said is required under federal sentencing guidelines.
In November, Dyer issued a news release after his guilty plea, saying, “I am sorry that my actions have affected others, and I am thankful to have so many people who have helped me get my life back together and deal with my substance abuse problems. I hope that my actions do not reflect poorly upon the legal community or those who have supported me through these difficult times, including my law partner who was in no way involved in any of this.”
He said then that he would surrender his license to practice law once he was sentenced.
In the drug-conspiracy case, Christian and Gladis Maldonado of Kensett, who were considered the main suppliers in the case and who were accused of moving 5 to 10 pounds of “ice,” a crystallized form of the drug, on a weekly basis, both pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge and are serving 19 years and 12 years, respectively, in federal prison.
A former North Little Rock police officer, Oather Lee Fulmer of Cabot, was also indicted in the case and eventually pleaded guilty. He is serving a four-year sentence for buying and selling less than 500 grams of the drug between 2006 and 2011.
Dyer made headlines in November 2011, when he was free on his own recognizance in the case, but was required to undergo periodic surprise drug tests, and prosecutors complained that he had claimed on three occasions that he couldn’t urinate. Prosecutors voiced suspicions that Dyer was trying to delay testing until any drugs in his urine were diluted. A U.S. magistrate judge ordered him to produce a more timely urine sample, though all of his samples tested negative for illegal substances.
Arkansas, Pages 10 on 02/27/2014