Bella Vista Woman Fined For Selling Pills

BENTONVILLE -- A Bella Vista woman was fined $1,000 for selling morphine pills to a friend who was a confidential informant.

Rhonda Lynn Buie, 45, pleaded guilty to the court in June to two counts of delivery of a controlled substance, a Class C felony. She faced up to 30 years in prison on each count because prosecutors charged Buie as a habitual offender.

Buie said on two occasions last year she sold morphine pills to a friend for $10 each.

Buie's punishment was up to Circuit Judge Robin Green since Buie pleaded guilty without the benefit of a plea agreement. Green sentenced Buie on Thursday.

Green placed Buie on five years of state-supervised probation in 2013 after Buie pleaded guilty to possessing drug paraphernalia.

Drew Ledbetter, Buie's attorney, filed a brief before the hearing requesting a $1,000 fine for Buie.

Katie Fisher, deputy prosecutor, described Buie as a habitual offender who faced three to 30 years on each count. Fisher told Green that Buie committed the delivery crimes while on pre-trial release in the drug paraphernalia case. Fisher recommended four years in prison followed by a 10-year suspended sentence.

The recommendation for prison and a suspended sentence was based on Buie being a habitual offender, Fisher said.

Buie claims she sold morphine to the confidential informant because they were friends and she felt bad for her friend because she said her father was sick, Fisher said.

Ledbetter told Green that Buie and the informant were close friends.

The informant told Buie she needed the pills for her father, who had been injured in a car accident, Ledbetter said. The informant told Buie her father would allow her to move in with him if she obtained the pills, Ledbetter said.

Buie offered to give the informant the pills, but the informant insisted on giving Buie money for them, Ledbetter said.

Green found Buie didn't actively look to deliver the pills and her emotions were played upon to help someone she thought was in pain.

"She wasn't seeking to go out and do this," Green said. "She was, quite frankly, used."

Green ordered Buie to pay a $1,000 fine and $150 in court costs.

Buie will remain on probation in connection with the drug paraphernalia case.