Jana Brigman
After being a fugitive for the better part of two years, 54-year-old Jana Brigman resurfaced recently when she was picked up in Marion County on drug charges.
Brigman appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court Monday, pled guilty to the charges in the Marion County case and was given 15 years in prison.
She was also facing revocation of suspended sentences handed down in three Baxter County cases. The state announced it was dismissing the revocations.
Brigman was in a wheelchair during Monday’s court appearance. According to the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office, on Aug. 13 Brigman jumped from a rail on the second floor of the female pod where she was housed. She is reported to have broken bones in both of her feet. She was taken to Baxter Regional Medical Center for treatment and returned to jail after being discharged.
Her most recent arrest came March 2 when information was provided to law enforcement that Brigman was living in a fifth-wheel camper located at an address along Trailwood Terrace north of Flippin.
It was alleged she was selling narcotics from the location.
When officers approached the camper, they reported hearing someone “running inside.”
No one, however, answered the door. The standoff lasted approximately an hour before entry was made into the camper.
Brigman then came out of her hiding place and was taken into custody.
Officers reported finding methamphetamine, hydrocodone and various items of drug paraphernalia in the camper.
In addition, a fully-loaded-9-millimeter pistol with the serial numbers removed was located in a chair in the living room.
Brigman is a convicted felon and it is illegal for her to be in contact with weapons.
The charge of being in simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms, a Y Felony, was also been brought against Brigman in Marion County. It was dismissed by the state.
In addition, Brigman is charged in the Marion County case with being in possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia, resisting arrest and being a habitual offender.
For a time, Brigman and several other people were living in a building that once housed the Buzzard Roost Inn in Baxter County.
There were allegations of drug use, drug sales and other crimes swirling around residents at the location.
According to investigative records, Brigman, 51-year-old Scott Froit, 46-year-old Michael Scudder and 40-year-old Ian Tice were all alleged to have been involved in various illegal activities while living at the shuttered resort.
The property was shown on county tax records as belonging to Tice who listed a Memphis, Tennessee mailing address.
Records indicate he is apparently now living in a suburb of the Tennessee city.
In August 2016, Tice was thrown in the Baxter County jail on a number of charges, including allegedly attempting to sexually assault Brigman.
Many of the more serious charges filed against Tice stemming from the alleged attack on Brigman were dropped.
Court records show Tice was put on probation for three years after being found guilty of possessing drug paraphernalia.
Revocation petitions were filed in his two 2016 criminal cases in late November 2017 and warrants were issued for Tice’s arrest. The warrants are still active, according to the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office.
In the revocation petitions, it is alleged that Tice has had no contact with probation and parole officers in Mountain Home and was no longer living at his approved address.
While in jail in 2016, Tice reported to law officers that Froit, Brigman and Scudder continued to live on the Buzzard Roost Inn property without his permission.
Tice said he had been told Froit and Brigman had moved a fifth-wheel camper onto the property.
When officers went to investigate Tice’s complaint, they found Froit and Brigman living in the camper. Scudder was also located on the Buzzard Roost Inn property.
Investigators also found drugs, drug paraphernalia and weapons leading to the arrest of Froit, Brigman and Scudder.
In addition, officers reported that while electric service had been cut off at the location, the meter and wiring had been tampered with to allow power to be stolen.
The former Buzzard Roost Inn burned to the ground in late 2016.
Cause of the fire is listed as undetermined, according to the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office.
The investigation did show that there was no mortgage or insurance on the property.
One of Brigman’s first arrests came in September 2015, after she was found passed out in a vehicle on the KFC parking lot in Mountain Home.
When officers approached her, they saw she had a pistol on her lap.
Since that time, she has been in and out of legal trouble a number of times.
Currently, records show the status of all four people who lived at the Buzzard Roost Inn property.
Brigman is jailed in Baxter County and will be heading to prison.
Froit is shown under active supervision by the Mountain Home probation and parole office.
Tice is officially listed as a fugitive.
Scudder is on parole and two cases, both filed in 2019, are shown as still open.
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