Arkansas man pleads guilty to felony drug charges, sentenced

HOT SPRINGS -- A habitual offender on parole was sentenced Monday to 20 years in prison with 18 years suspended after pleading guilty to multiple felony drug charges stemming from a raid on his residence earlier this year.

Paul Price III, 42, who has remained in custody in lieu of bonds totaling $31,000 since his arrest April 21, pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamines with purpose to deliver, unauthorized use of another person's property to facilitate a crime and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was sentenced to the maximum of 20 years on each of the three counts, with 18 years suspended, all to run concurrently.

Additional felony counts were withdrawn -- simultaneous possession of drugs and weapons stemming from a 20-inch sword found at his residence, maintaining a drug premises and possession of drug paraphernalia.

In addition to prison time, Price was fined $2,000 for each count, for a total of $6,000, and ordered to pay $295 in court costs.

Price is classified as a habitual offender, having been convicted Dec. 27, 1999, in Garland County; April 21, 2007, in Bossier City, La.; and June 27, 2011, and Aug. 14, 2012, both in Garland County, all for possession of a controlled substance; and on Feb. 10, 2014, in Garland County for possession of a firearm by certain persons and unauthorized use of another person's property to facilitate a crime. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison after his 2014 conviction.

According to the affidavit, on April 21, shortly after 6 a.m., investigators with the Hot Springs Police Department's narcotics unit and SWAT team executed a "no knock" search warrant on Price's residence in the 400 block of Bower Street and found Price and a woman, 41, in an upstairs bedroom.

Asked if there were any narcotics in the house, Price told investigators there was "a little" near where he was sleeping. When he was told that investigators had recently purchased narcotics from him using confidential informants, Price said he "didn't doubt it" because he regularly sold narcotics to support his own habit.

When asked about the woman, he said he had met her the day before at a convenience store and let her spend the night because she had nowhere else to go. The woman corroborated his story and was later released.

Investigators found a syringe, 0.7 gram of methamphetamines and a tin can with residue in the living room. In the bedroom, the investigators found five more syringes, two sets of digital scales, three smoking pipes, a baggie with 7 grams of methamphetamines, and an eyeglass case containing a spoon, two syringes and a baggie with methamphetamine residue.

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The sword was "within arm's reach" of the methamphetamines, the affidavit states.

State Desk on 07/25/2017

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