Fort Smith Woman Sentenced To 5 Years In Federal Prison For Drug Trafficking

Fort Smith, Arkansas - Duane (DAK) Kees, United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced that Krisa Dawn Durham, age 42, of Fort Smith, Arkansas, was sentenced today to 60 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for her conviction for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine. The Honorable P.K. Holmes, III presided over the sentencing hearing in the United States District Court in Fort Smith.

According to court records, investigators with the DEA Task Force and the Sebastian County Sheriff’s Department learned that Durham had an outstanding warrant for absconding from parole and that she was possibly staying at a Fort Smith motel. Based on this information, investigators set up surveillance at the motel and arrested Durham after finding methamphetamine and scales inside the hotel room where she was staying.  Durham admitted to law enforcement officers that the methamphetamine and scales were hers. The DEA laboratory confirmed Durham had approximately 41 grams of actual methamphetamine. 

Durham was indicted by a federal grand jury in December 2018.  She entered a guilty plea to Count One of the Indictment in February 2019.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Fort Smith Police Department, Sebastian County Sheriff’s Office and the 12^th/21^st Judicial District Drug Task Force. Assistant United States Attorney Kyra Jenner prosecuted the case for the United States.