A Mountain Home man who has had criminal cases opened on him since 2003 was back in Baxter County Circuit Court on February 10.
Fifty-year-old Michael George Scudder entered a guilty plea to the charges against him and was sentenced to five years in prison.
Scudder’s most recent arrest came October 25 last year. He was booked on charges of simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms, being a felon in possession of a weapon, possession of a defaced firearm and possession of drugs.
During the past 21 years, Scudder has been charged with crimes in Baxter, Boone and Izard Counties.
The list of crimes Scudder has been accused of committing include being in possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia, stealing a truck in Boone County, taking 20 propane gas bottles from various locations, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
In some of the cases, Scudder has been charged with simultaneous possession of guns and drugs which are Class Y felonies and can carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Court records show the Y-felonies have been dismissed.
There are almost 500 docket entries in Scudder’s various cases.
Scudder has spent time in the Baxter County jail and the state prison system.
Scudder has also been charged multiple times with violating the terms and conditions of his probation handed down in older cases by picking up more charges.
When a defendant has multiple charges in multiple cases, sometimes in multiple counties, a new crime triggers the filing of revocation petitions in some or all of the older cases.
This situation is common in Baxter County where a number of people often reoffend within weeks or months of being put on probation.
Court records show a pattern in Scudder’s cases – he often offends, is put on probation, re-offends, gets revoked and re-offends again.
The pattern has been basically unchanged for more than two decades.
At one point, Scudder was charged in a Boone County case set up in 2023, and it did cause revocation petitions to be filed in three Baxter County cases.
In the Boone County case, Scudder was accused of stealing a 2001 Chevrolet pickup truck with an attached trailer and a riding mower that was on the trailer.
In addition, a number of items, including guns, cash and titles to various vehicles were reported to have been taken out of a residence located along South Street in Harrison.
A neighbor told police she saw a white Nissan being driven by a female come up to the house where the theft took place.
The witness said two males got out of the vehicle, climbed into the Chevrolet pickup and drove away.
The homeowner was staying at an assisted living center at the time.
A be-on-the-lookout was issued and the truck was stopped by an Arkansas State Police trooper and a Boone County sheriffs deputy. Scudder was reported to have been driving the stolen pickup.
The woman driving the Nissan seen by the neighbor, Scudder and another male were all brought to the Harrison Police Department for processing.
The woman was interviewed and told investigators Scudder was her ex-boyfriend and he had asked her to drive him from Mountain Home to Harrison to pick up a vehicle he had purchased.
The woman said Scudder showed her a registration card and insurance papers showing the truck belonged to him.
The woman and the second male were not charged as they appeared to have been duped into participating by Scudder.
Scudder told investigators a friend had told him about the truck and said he might be able to pick it up cheap. He said he met with the owner of the vehicle at his Harrison residence and paid him $2,500 for the vehicle and $500 for the trailer and mower.
Scudder told police he had asked the owner to give him a couple of days before he came for it so he could register and insure the truck. He said the man agreed.
The personal assistant to the man who owned the truck said it was not possible for Scudder to have met her employer on the date he said he paid for the truck.
She said the victim had been at the assisted living center at the time and that she and the man’s daughter were the only two people authorized to take him from the center.
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