A White County man arrested on a federal firearms charge as part of the "Operation Central Sweep" investigation into gang-related drug trafficking activity will have to stay in jail while his case is adjudicated, a federal magistrate judge decided Tuesday.
Andre "Smoke" Smith, 21, of Searcy was ordered to stay in jail after a Searcy police officer testified of numerous violent incidents that Smith has been involved in or is suspected of being involved in -- including a 2019 homicide and a high-speed chase through residential neighborhoods last year.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Joe Volpe said when he ordered Smith to remain locked up that any efforts to rein in his behavior were "too little, too late at this point."
Johnny Sowell, a Searcy police officer who formerly worked with the 20th Judicial District Drug Task Force out of Faulkner County, testified that Smith is a known member of the Gangster Disciples, a street gang named in a March 11 news release from the U.S. attorney's office as a drug distribution organization central to the investigation.
Sowell said that Smith and another man, Justice Cunningham, 23, also of Searcy, were developed as suspects in the Nov. 23, 2019, homicide of 41-year-old Thomas Bernard Hunt behind a Searcy grocery store. Sowell said Smith was arrested on a firearms charge about a year later in Heber Springs when police, searching for Cunningham, came up on Smith instead and arrested him with a handgun, which led to the federal indictment.
No one has been charged in Hunt's shooting death, and the incident remains under investigation.
Cunningham, who remains at large, is also part of the Operation Central Sweep probe, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Little Rock.
Sowell said that after Smith's arrest in the federal indictment on March 11, Smith told police that he had been in the car with Cunningham and Hunt on Nov. 23, 2019, when Hunt was shot.
The following day, Sowell said, Smith told him that he and Cunningham had contacted Hunt to buy marijuana but were told he didn't have any, at which time a fight broke out in the car the three men were in.
"Smith said he closed his eyes during the shooting, but he advised that he was sitting behind [Cunningham] and that he had fired a couple of shots but was unsure if he hit [Hunt] or not," Sowell said.
"Mr. Smith said he fired a couple of shots?" asked Volpe.
"Yes, sir," Sowell answered.
"Did Mr. Smith indicate whether or not Mr. Hunt was armed with a firearm?" Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Fields asked.
"He stated that Hunt was not armed," Sowell said.
Sowell testified that Smith was involved in numerous other incidents, including a drug arrest on Sept. 4, 2020, and an arrest in a fleeing case on Nov. 17, when Searcy police tried to stop him for driving with no license plate.
Sowell said Smith led police on a chase that reached speeds of 89 mph through a residential neighborhood and ended when he crashed into the backyard of a home located across from a middle school. The charges from both incidents were dismissed March 19 on a motion from the White County prosecuting attorney's office, citing the federal indictment.
Sowell also testified of incidents in which Smith was implicated but never arrested because the victims, citing fear of retaliation, refused to press charges. He said that Smith also had a history of absconding from probation, disappearing for months at a time.
Smith's attorney, Lott Rolf IV, pointed out that his client had not been charged in some incidents and that charges were dismissed in others.
"Those incidents that you testified to earlier are uncharged incidents, is that correct?" Rolf asked.
"I couldn't say for sure on all of them," Sowell replied. "I know that part of them, there was a motion to dismiss some of them due to his federal charges, but I'm not sure on every charge."
"And more particularly, the homicide charge that you testified to earlier, he has not been charged with that at this time, is that correct?" Rolf asked.
"That's correct," Sowell replied.
Smith's grandmother, Mary Smith of Searcy, had agreed to supervise her grandson if he was released. She testified that she would ensure her grandson's good behavior and would report him to authorities if he were to violate his release conditions. She said that efforts to keep her grandson from violating his release would be a family affair.
"Even my 93-year-old mama is going to help keep him on track," Mary Smith said.
But under cross examination, Mary Smith admitted that although her grandson had lived with her off and on for seven years, he did not work and she was unaware of most of his activities.
Fields said Andre Smith's record showed him to be a flight risk and danger to the community, adding that prior to his arrest on the weapons charge, he was involved in the Hunt homicide, either by being present with a firearm during a drug deal or as an active participant.
"Worst-case scenario is that he has committed a homicide," she said. "I have reason to believe that he has confessed to committing this homicide. ... And when he was arrested on his current offense on March 11, 2021, he was again in possession of a firearm."