FORT SMITH - A federal judge has meted out nearly 114 years in sentences to defendants in the multiagency Scott County methamphetamine investigation dubbed Operation Great Scott, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
U.S. District Court Judge P.K. Holmes III handed out sentences over the past three weeks to 17 defendants who have pleaded guilty to a variety of drug trafficking charges, a news release from the U.S. attorney’s office stated.
The heaviest sentence, 25 years, went to Lee Roy Garcia, 24, of Waldron for aiding and abetting in the distribution of methamphetamine and being an unlawful drug user in possession of a firearm.
According to the news release, authorities found six pounds of methamphetamine and eight firearms in a “stash” house owned by Garcia.
Miguel Paramo, 31, of Waldron was sentenced to 17.5 years for possessing with intent to distribute four pounds of methamphetamine.
The news release stated that the drugs were found hidden in his vehicle after he was arrested after a minor traffic accident in Dallas. Officials believe he traveled to Texas from Waldron to pick up the drugs for distribution in the Scott County area.
Sentences of others who were indicted and entered guilty pleas to charges in the case ranged from five months in prison with five months home detention to 14 years in prison.
Several federal, state and local law enforcement agencies participated in the investigation. The release mentioned the participation of the late Scott County Sheriff Cody Carpenter and Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Wildlife Officer 1st Class Joel Campora.
The two men were killed in the line of duty May 31 when they were swept away by flood waters in south Scott County while trying to rescue two women from their flood battered home on Mill Creek. All four died when the house collapsed from the force of the flood waters.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 14 on 06/26/2013