Man with two prior convictions sentenced in firearm possession case

BERRYVILLE -- With two previous felony convictions, Perry Joe Gatlin, 31, of Green Forest, pleaded guilty Monday morning to felony possession of a firearm by a certain person, aggravated assault and second-degree battery, and admitted to allegations of a petition for revocation of his sentence in a 2006 domestic battery case.

He was handed a 10-year prison sentence with five years suspended and credit for 150 days served in jail, and was ordered to pay $1,170 in costs, fines, fees and restitution within 10 years.

He is to also have no contact with the three persons he was alleged to have threatened in a January 23 series of events at a home on County Road 830.

The sentence was handed down after charges were modified with dismissal of one count of aggravated assault, terroristic threatening, third-degree battery, and habitual offender enhancement.

Gatlin was released on a transport bond conditioned by regular contact with the sheriff's office.

Gatlin was arrested by county deputies on Jan. 23 after pointing a rifle at three people, allegedly injuring two of them and threatening to kill one, a 45-year-old man.

Gatlin was in the company of a relative in a GMC pickup, leaving the scene and headed for Boone county when he was stopped by Taney County, Mo., officers in Arkansas, who subsequently took him to Boone County for pickup by Carroll County officers.

Eugene Smith, 40, of Green Forest, was placed on three years of supervised probation after pleading guilty to felony breaking or entering and misdemeanor theft of property. He was also ordered to pay $1,520 in fines, fees and costs within three years, and was given credit for 60 days in jail on the misdemeanor charge.

Smith and a Green Forest woman entered a hispanic man's vehicle while it was parked at Walmart in Berryville on Jan. 6, and removed a speaker. Smith returned the speaker to Berryville Police in February, 11 days prior to his arrest.

At his victim's request, a charge of terroristic threatening against James Brian Clark, 34, of Alpena was dismissed, along with a charge of altering a vehicle identification number in a separate case.

Clark pleaded guilty to theft by receiving, a Class C felony, and was placed on three years of supervised probation. He is to also pay $1,520 in fines, costs, restitution and fees within three years, and will be given credit for 45 days served in jail.

In January at his residence on U.S. 412, Clark was in possession of a 1982 Chevrolet pickup which had allegedly been given to him by a man after the original owners did not claim it .

The question of whether or not Clark can request his record to be sealed after serving the sentence hinges on whether the state can find out if he has been previously convicted on a felony

Jason Wayne Woods, 33, of Green Forest, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor unauthorized use of a vehicle, which was a reduced charge from theft by receiving. He was ordered to pay $770 in costs, fines and fees within one year.

He was charged in connection with a 1992 Toyota pickup taken from Powell's Milling which contained a dozer laser level in October 2007.

He was arrested on the initial charge in April of this year after a woman on County Road 702 reported that he had left the pickup at her place when he was drunk and had never returned to pick it up.

The prosecution stated that the misdemeanor charge was more appropriate.

Also pleading guilty was Erin Amanda Payne, 27, of Eureka Springs, to a charge of theft of property after a charge of breaking or entering was dismissed.

While the plea was accepted, sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 11.

Payne was arrested in October 2007 after turning herself over to authorities in Denver, Colo., in August. The charges involved a cell phone and other personal items belonging to a Eureka Springs woman, which Payne stated she found in a purse on the ground.

The probation of Daniel Lee Stout, 23, of Eureka Springs, was extended for two years to allow him to pay off the fines fees, costs and restitution ordered in his conviction in a 2004 hot check case.

This being the second extension granted him, Judge Alan Epley denied the requested three years extension, indicating that he is "wearing thin of patience."

Between May 8 and June 10, 2004, Stout wrote 13 bad checks, primarily to Berryville businesses totaling $641.97.

A charge of violation of Arkansas' hot check law against pamela Sue Benefield, 36, of Berryville, was dismissed after she had paid in full bad checks written to Eureka springs businesses between March 4 and April 30, 2007.

As Judge Epley lectured her regarding doing things the hard way and the easy way, she volunteered that she no longer uses checks.

Also dismissed were charges of residential burglary, false imprisonment, first-degree criminal mischief and third-degree battery against Donald Eugene Thompson, 47, of Green Forest, with the state saying it could not meet the burden of proof.

The initial charges arose from an incident allegedly perpetrated by Thompson and another man against he other man's former daughter-in-law at her home on County Road 501.

Thompson faces a separate petition for revocation of his sentence in two other cases, with a hearing on that scheduled for July 21.

For the fifth time this year, Clayton Ray Fields, 31, of Berryville was arraigned, this time on charges of possession of a firearm by certain persons, first-degree stalking, and intimidating a witness.

His trial in four other cases, involving charges of forgery, hot checks, and credit card fraud, is scheduled to start on July 16. A revocation proceeding in an earlier case is tracking with those cases.

Fields' mother, Mary Annie Fields, 65, of Green Forest, waived arraignment on a charge of accomplice to possession of a firearm by a certain person. She allegedly purchased a 9 mm carbine from a Harrison pawn shop, and left in his car.

Also waiving arraignment was April Dawn Bradshaw, 24, of Berryville, on a charges of tampering with physical evidence in May. She allegedly entered Clayton Field's hotel room and removed items related to his charges.

Other arraignments Monday included:

* Heather Nicole Walker, 18, and Lorena Deanne Vandenberg, 19, both of Green Forest -- Forgery. With both being Walmart employees, allegedly Walker took checks belonging to another woman totaling $1,030.88, signed them, and allegedly gave them to Vandenberg to cash.

* Karen Mae Sutton, 43, and Russell Wayne Niebur, 36, both of Green Forest -- Commercial burglary, two counts of breaking or entering, criminal mischief, and, in the case of Niebur, accomplice liability. The two are charged in connection with a June 14 event at Unique Linen and Cleaning Service in which a soda machine was damaged. Niebur is reported to be a sex offender out of Kansas.

* Bradley Keith Fisk, 40, of Green Forest -- Aggravated assault, second-degree battery, and first-degree terroristic threatening. He allegedly put a handgun to a man's head and hitting him in the head with the weapon, threatened to shoot him in an incident between Rock Quarry and Green Forest on June 7.

* Daniel Henry Hern, 23, of Green Forest -- Violation of Arkansas' hot check law. He allegedly wrote seven checks totaling $311.63 to various businesses between Feb. 4 and March 26, 2007.

* William Lee Holt, 26, of Green Forest -- Theft by receiving. He allegedly retained and sold copper wire from a Carroll Electric Cooperative substation in May and June.

* Gary Dale Vaughan, 37, of Springdale one count each of misdemeanor and felony theft of property. He allegedly obtained $1,685 for service never rendered in March 2007, and charged $145.08 for plumbing supplies to another person's account at Tanner True Value.

* Jeffery Leander Choate, 23, of Western Grove -- Criminal mischief. He allegedly set off a sprinkler system and alarm in the Carroll County Detention Center, causing more than $500 in damage.

* April Dawn Keeney, 26, of Berryville -- Two counts each of second-degree battery, aggravated assault on a family member, and second-degree endangering the welfare of a minor. In June she allegedly injured her two-year-old daughter, grabbing her hair, jerking her to the ground, picking her up by her ears, throwing her to the floor, and slapping her in the face with a dirty diaper.

*Brendan Neil Baker, 26, of Green Forest -- Felony aggravated assault, terroristic threatening, harassment, and misdemeanor carrying a weapon, and possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. He allegedly pointed a handgun at a man and threatened to kill another, and shot a handgun into the air outside the second man's house in June.

* Anthony Neff Denney, 31, of Oak Grove -- Third-degree domestic battery and second-degree battery. Having been convicted of domestic battery within the last five years, on June 27 he injured his girlfriend, pushing, grabbing and hitting her, and using a knife to injure her.