IS BACK IN BAXTER COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT
Andrew Esposito of Mountain Home, sentenced to 20 years in prison in the late 1990s for setting a series of fires, breaking or entering, theft of property and drug-related charges, has been recently arrested for possession of various drugs, including methamphetamine.
Esposito appeared in Circuit Court Thursday and entered a not guilty plea to the charges. He was ordered to reappear in court May 10th.
The 55-year-old Esposito, on parole until late March, was arrested when Mountain Home police responded to a call on April 29th alleging a woman was attempting to obtain narcotics.
The woman was reported to be sitting in a vehicle with Missouri license plates. When two Mountain Home officers arrived on the scene, they saw the female in the passenger seat of the vehicle.
The woman, later identified as 34-year-old Crystal Sanford, was said to have immediately blurted out she and Esposito were not trying to sell hydrocodone pills. Esposito — who was in the driver’s seat — was reported to be “very nervous and making excited movements.” The officers observed a small pouch in Esposito’s lap. When asked what he had in the pouch, Esposito said he didn’t know because he had found it.
When an officer picked up the pouch, he reported immediately recognizing the shape of a glass-smoking pipe used in ingesting drugs.
After the discovery, Esposito was placed under arrest. A search of the vehicle turned up a syringe in Esposito’s right pants pocket. Another syringe with about 30 cc’s of a clear liquid field-testing positive for methamphetamine was located, along with a pill bottle belonging to Sanford containing a plastic bag with a white crystalline substance also field-testing positive for methamphetamine.
In addition, hydrocodone and alprazolam pills were found.
Both Esposito and Sanford face charges stemming from the April 29th incident.
In the late 1990s, Esposito was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to a number of charges. He was accused of setting a series of fires, including at a Mountain Home motel where he was staying at the time, an apartment complex and several homes.
He was initially charged with attempt to commit capital murder for setting fire to a home knowing the resident was in the structure. The charge was eventually dropped.
Esposito, who underwent a psychological evaluation and was found fit to proceed in his late 1990s cases, claimed he had suffered brain damage when hit by a moving train about four years prior to the time of his arrest in connection with setting the fires and other charges.
In court records related to his cases, Esposito said one of the reasons he set the fires was to see fire trucks and police cars. He described the experience as “exciting.”
Esposito, who apparently went by the nickname of “Drew,” said there were two Drews — an old one and a new one. He said the old Drew was not a very good person, but the new Drew was a “great guy.”
According to the court records, Esposito had a significant history of conduct problems, including setting his own house on fire when he was 9 years old.
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