Gary Barker of Mountain Home was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges in two drug-related cases during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday.
The charges the 26-year-old Barker faced came after he was picked up while in the company of his mother, 50-year-old Valeory Hodges.
In one of the two cases, Barker was arrested in mid-March while with his mother. He was charged with being in possession of methamphetamine, marijuana and drug paraphernalia. The arrest came when the vehicle Barker and his mother occupied was stopped because of an equipment defect, and a Mountain Home police officer noticed the “strong odor” of marijuana coming from the vehicle.
Barker and his mother were escorted back to a motel room they were sharing and which police had been watching because of suspected drug activity.
Hodges was a parolee at the time and had a search waiver on file. The officers found 22 grams of methamphetamine and 54 grams of marijuana in the room, along with various items of drug paraphernalia used for the ingestion and distribution of the drugs.
In the second case, Barker was arrested in early February along with his mother when Arkansas State Police troopers and probation and parole officers made a compliance visit to Hodges’ home along West North Street in Mountain Home.
When officers entered the residence, they reported the odor of marijuana in the house. Barker was found in the front bedroom. When officers looked into the room, they saw him trying to stuff a black bag under the bed. When Barker and his room were searched, officers found 53 grams of a white crystalline substance and 163 grams of marijuana.
The officers also located various items of drug paraphernalia, including digital scales and plastic bags. A loaded pistol with the serial numbers scratched off was also found in Barker’s room.
Barker’s mother was sentenced to 15 years in prison late last month, after pleading guilty to a string of drug-related charges. The state also seized more than $10,300 during Hodges’ various arrests.
She is an inmate in the McPherson Unit of the state prison system.
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