A man with a long string of criminal charges who has listed Mountain Home as one of several addresses through the years was scheduled to go on trial before a jury in Baxter County Circuit Court Wednesday but chose to take a plea instead.
Thirty-four-year-old Mason Alexander Grant pled guilty to possession of methamphetamine and items of paraphernalia used to ingest the drug. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
In addition to Baxter County, Grant has picked up criminal charges in Greene, Izard and Jefferson Counties.
Through the years, records show Grant has bounced back and forth between Paragould, Mountain Home and locations in Izard County and the Jefferson County community of White Hall.
The records also show he has ended up with charges in each area.
Grant who was on crutches with a brace on his right leg asked the court if he could remain out of jail until his doctor finished treating the leg. Circuit Judge John Putman did not grant the request. He said he might ask for a furlough, but that would be up to Sheriff John Montgomery to approve. Grant was remanded into custody.
LATEST BAXTER COUNTY CHARGE
In May last year, Grant was charged with possession of drugs and paraphernalia to use drugs when officers went to a residence along Sunnyann Lane.
According to the probable cause affidavit, they were investigating a report involving the purchase of a car by Grant in which he allegedly gave the seller counterfeit money.
When officers confronted Grant, he denied any knowledge of the funny money. At the time, Grant was on parole with a search waiver on file.
The officers searched the vehicle Grant had been in and which he claimed had been sold to him by the victim.
The search turned up slightly more than 28 grams of suspected methamphetamine, seven hydrocodone pills and a glass pipe used to ingest methamphetamine.
Another vehicle belonging to Grant was searched at another location and a small quantity of suspected methamphetamine and paraphernalia to use the drug were found.
HAD STOLEN TRACTOR
Grant has also been charged with being in possession of a John Deere tractor stolen from a Mountain Home residence and valued at $30,000.
In 2016, he swapped the tractor for a truck. The person who had made the swap found out the tractor was stolen and returned it to Grant.
When investigators interviewed Grant in late January 2016, he showed them where the tractor was located.
He spent time in prison on the theft by receiving charge.
OTHER FTA CHARGES
Grant is no stranger to failure-to-appear warrants. At one time an FTA warrant was issued against him for not showing up in Green County Circuit Court on a charge of failing to abide by the rules and regulations of the sex offender registration program.
At the time the warrant was issued in Greene County, Grant was in jail in Baxter County on another charge.
REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER
Grant was required to register as a sex offender in Greene County after being convicted of second-degree sexual assault in early December 2007.
Grant has been accused of sex offender registration violations in Baxter, Greene and Izard Counties.
Ironically, he was once arrested when he came to the Baxter County Sheriff’s office to comply with those same registration requirements.
During the registration process, information is gathered, including a check on vehicle and driver’s license data. Grant said his driver’s license was suspended.
When asked how he had gotten to the sheriff’s office, he initially said someone had dropped him off.
Video surveillance cameras showed that Grant had driven himself. He was arrested for not having a valid driver’s license, but when he was taken to jail, a small amount of methamphetamine and items of drug paraphernalia were found.
During the years, Grant’s charges have included sexual assault, several instances of failure to register as a sex offender, theft by receiving, possession of drugs, possession of drug paraphernalia, drunk driving, aggravated assault, public intoxication and endangering the welfare of a minor.
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