Larry George
A man alleged to have once described himself as a mid-level drug dealer appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court Monday and pled guilty to charges in three open criminal cases.
Fifty-year-old Larry Anthony George whose current address is the Izard County jail was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
George has a long string of felony charges in six Arkansas Counties — Baxter, Cleburne, Craighead, Izard, Independence and Jackson.
When Baxter County Circuit Judge John Putman was pronouncing sentence on George Monday, he began talking about the other charges against George. Instead of reciting the laundry list, the judge said George had “been in trouble basically everywhere east of here.”
The Baxter County cases were filed in mid-December 2018, mid-October 2019 and in May last year.
George’s attendance at regularly scheduled court sessions has been spotty at best and failure-to-appear-warrants have been issued seeking his arrest.
In the most recent case, police were called to the Mountain Home Inn in early May last year to assist emergency medical personnel responding to the report of an unresponsive male in one of the motel rooms
After entry was made, George was found passed out on the floor.
As emergency medical personnel began to examine and treat George, a Mountain Home police officer noticed three smoking pipes on the bed next to a can of air duster.
The pipes were reported to contain a white residue consistent with methamphetamine.
As a convicted felon, George had a waiver on file permitting warrantless searches of his person and property. A search of the room turned up a small pouch containing suspected methamphetamine, a green leafy substance consistent with marijuana and various pills.
George regained consciousness and was taken into custody and delivered to the Baxter County Detention Center.
In the earlier two cases, George, who listed an address in the small Jackson County town of Swifton at the time, was initially pulled over by a Mountain Home Police officer on Dec. 15, 2018 for a minor equipment violation.
A K-9 officer arrived and alerted to the presence of narcotics in the silver Cadillac being driven by George.
While the traffic stop was ongoing, the officer noticed a black pouch partially hanging out of George’s pants leg.
The pouch contained two plastic bags each holding a substance field-testing positive for methamphetamine.
The methamphetamine was reported to have weighed seven grams.
George is also charged in Baxter County with stealing items from a mini-storage unit on Highway 5 South. The theft was reported Oct. 15, 2019
The victim reported there were a number of items missing from her storage unit, including jewelry, a home theater projector and kitchen items.
Security surveillance video from the storage complex helped identify George as the person who entered the storage unit and removed the items.
George’s record stretches back more than 20 years.
When George was arrested in Cleburne County in early March 2019, he is alleged to have attempted to flush 85 grams of methamphetamine down a toilet in a Cleburne County jail cell.
He was unsuccessful and the drug was seized by law enforcement.
It was during an interview by Cleburne County investigators that George is alleged to have described himself as a “mid-level drug dealer.”
He said he had purchased the 85 grams of methamphetamine for $1,400 with plans to sell it. He said he normally sold an ounce of the drug for $800.
When he was arrested in Independence County on Jan. 6, 2021, George admitted to officers he had purchased methamphetamine and it was on his person and in the vehicle in which he had been a passenger.
One plastic bag containing meth was found in George’s pocket.
Also located in the vehicle was a sack with four small bags of methamphetamine inside, as well as two alprazolam tablets.
According to the probable cause affidavit, officers seized approximately 51 grams of methamphetamine.
George is reported to have told officers he was delivering the drug to an unnamed person in Mountain Home.
George has served time in county jails and the Arkansas prison system. He is currently an inmate in the Izard County Detention Center.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI