A former Arkansas State Police trooper was sentenced Aug. 31 to 10 years for stalking a woman, according to court records.
Former Cpl. Mark Eugene Holland, 54, of Heber Springs entered a negotiated plea of guilty to Class D felony charges of one count of misuse of Arkansas Crime Information Center records and one count of second-degree stalking as well as misdemeanor terroristic threatening, according to the sentencing order and Independence County Circuit Clerk Greg Wallis.
Holland, a 19-year veteran of the Arkansas State Police, was arrested in December 2019 on 18 charges alleging misuse of the Arkansas Crime Information Center, terroristic threatening and stalking during the period of Jan 1, 2016 through Nov. 20, 2019 , according to an arrest affidavit.
He had submitted his resignation to the commander of Troop B of the Highway Patrol Division immediately before being arrested.
Judge Tim Weaver of the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit Court imposed a total time to serve of 120 months, according to the sentencing order dated Aug. 31.
According to the affidavit, the Independence County sheriff's office informed state police of a complaint against Holland. Holland sent a letter to a woman's home address stating that he "had strong feelings" for her and "that they were willing to spend money for pictures" of her, according to the affidavit.
The woman told investigators during an interview she had received emails since 2016 from anonymous email addresses, including messages with numerous requests for nude photos, requests for her to perform sexual acts and threats.
The woman worked at a gas station owned by Holland's family, and she said Holland had sent her messages on several social media platforms, the affidavit said.
"She also stated that she believed it was Holland because due to Holland being in law enforcement, he could access her information," the report said.
In an interview with investigators, Holland said he got the woman's contact information from Facebook, but that he had gotten her home address from the Arkansas Crime Information Center/National Crime Information Center, the affidavit said. Investigators checked Holland's account and said Holland had accessed the woman's information on the database at least 18 times since 2016.
Holland also told investigators that he drove by the woman's home on a number of occasions in his patrol vehicle "to determine if [she] was home."
Holland said he was "infatuated" with the woman and also sent emails to her husband "expressing his infatuation," the affidavit said. Holland said the woman had asked him to stop contacting her, but "he ignored her and continued to do so" from encrypted email addresses, according to the affidavit.
Information for this report was provided by Clara Turnage for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.