Photo: Tommy Dwight Gattis
A Mountain Home man arrested twice within a four-day span pled guilty to the charges against him during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Monday.
Thirty-year-old Tommy Dwight Gattis was given three years in prison.
He was first booked into the Baxter County Detention Center on Dec. 4 last year and rearrested a few days later on additional drug charges.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the first arrest came when Gattis was a passenger in a vehicle pulled over by an Arkansas State trooper.
There were two other adults – 52-year-old Tommy Hitt II and 27-year-old Trystina Meadows in the SUV, as well as a juvenile.
Photos: Tommy Hitt II and Trystina Meadows
Drugs were found, including a substance testing positive for methamphetamine and three large bags of marijuana. The marijuana was in a clear plastic tub and covered with diapers.
The second arrest stemmed directly from the first. Law enforcement officers served a search warrant on a residence along County Road 481 on Dec. 8.
The same three individuals were arrested again on drug charges. According to the probable cause affidavit, Gattis and Meadows were reported to live together in the residence owned by one of Hitt’s relatives.
The two arrests were connected by a cellphone belonging to Hitt. When he was arrested earlier in the month, a search warrant was obtained to allow investigators to check data in the cellphone.
An examination of the phone revealed “numerous conversation where drug transactions and other drug-related dialogue” between Hitt and other persons took place.
Hitt is alleged to have had drugs shipped to the County Road 481 address, where Gattis and Meadows were living in the name of a former tenant who had not been there for some time.
At one point, Hitt had written a text reporting to a person out-of-state that a shipment of marijuana had been received.
Officers conducting the search of the residence on County Road 481 also reported finding a number of used syringes in the trash, along with various items of drug paraphernalia.
Gattis’ earlier arrests on drug-related charge’s came on Feb. 15, 2018 and March 24, 2019.
The 2018 arrest stemmed from a home visit officers made to the residence of probationer Rebecca Bryniarski on Bryniarski Lane. Gattis was identified as her then live-in boyfriend.
Officers found drugs and drug paraphernalia in the residence, including a bag of suspected methamphetamine hidden in a child’s toy box.
The toy box also contained a number of clonazepam pills and two sets of digital scales.
Gattis was charged with possession of drugs and paraphernalia used to ingest drugs and endangering the welfare of a minor.
Gattis was put on probation for five years after pleading guilty on July 19, 2018.
Gattis’ 2019 arrest stemmed from a traffic stop on a vehicle he was driving along Arkansas Highway 5 South on March 24.
Officers found marijuana, a substance field testing positive for methamphetamine and items of drug paraphernalia.
He pled guilty to the charges against him on July 15, 2019 and was given six years in prison with four to serve and two suspended.
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