Louisiana Man Sentenced to Nine Years for Methamphetamine Charge

           Texarkana, Arkansas - Conner Eldridge, United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced that Jonathan Taylor, aka “N.O.”, age 30, of Violet, Louisiana, was sentenced today to 108 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release on one count of Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine.  The Honorable Susan O. Hickey presided over the sentencing hearing in the United States District Court in Texarkana.

            U.S. Attorney Eldridge commented, “With today’s sentence, another drug dealer has been brought to justice.  The eradication of drug trafficking is vital to the growth and well-being of Hot Springs and communities across the Western District of Arkansas.  Our office remains focused on investigating and prosecuting drug trafficking activity in order to make our state a safer place for all of our citizens.”

            According to court records, on May 27, 2014, members of the 18^th Judicial East Drug Task Force and the Hot Springs Police Department were contacted by staff members of a Hot Springs hotel, regarding possible controlled substances found in a guest room while the room was being cleaned by the housekeeping staff.  The substance was field tested on the scene by members of the 18^th Judicial East Drug Task Force, which provided a positive result for the presumptive identification of methamphetamine.  Further investigation revealed that the room in question had been rented by Jonathan Taylor.  Subsequently, Taylor was encountered by investigators as he arrived back at the hotel.  Taylor stated that he came to the hotel to retrieve a PlayStation game console that he left in the hotel room.  Taylor was advised that controlled substances had been found in the room he rented, to which Taylor spontaneously responded that the controlled substances belonged to him.  At that point, Taylor was advised of his Miranda rights and agreed to make a statement.  During his interview, Taylor admitted that he was the current renter of the hotel room in question, and that the methamphetamine found in the room belonged to him.  The substance was later determined to have an approximate weight of 6.4 ounces and was confirmed by the State Crime Lab as methamphetamine.  Taylor was arrested on July 2, 2014, and pleaded guilty to the charge on December 1, 2014.

           This case was investigated by the Hot Springs Police Department, the 18^th Judicial Drug Task Force, and Homeland Security Investigations.  Assistant United States Attorney David Harris prosecuted the case for the United States.

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            Related court documents may be found on the Public Access to Electronic Records website @ www.pacer.gov