The legal system has used almost every tool available in handling the many drug-related cases of a Mountain Home man.
Thirty-two-year-old Jason Biddle has been placed probation, sent to prison, spent time in the Baxter County jail, committed to a treatment program at one of the Community Corrections Centers in the state and at Care Center Ministries in Mountain Home.
He has also lost vehicles and money in forfeiture actions filed against him.
The system pulled yet another tool out Thursday when Biddle was sentenced to 15 years probation and ordered into the 14th Judicial District Drug Court Program during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court.
During the sentencing process, 14th Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney David Ethredge told the court the state had chosen not to object to the arrangement for the Mountain Home man based “on the recommendation of numerous people who felt Biddle deserved this one last chance.” He said he wanted “to remind Mr. Biddle that he is getting an extraordinary opportunity.”
Biddle himself addressed the court saying he was “tired of being an addict” and wanted to do something different with his life.
Drug court is a rigorous addiction treatment program generally taking two or more years to complete. Those in the program are expected to obey a long list of requirements. If they wash out of the program, they are generally sent to prison.
It is normal to have drug court entrants spend time in one of the Community Correction Centers in the state where they participate in a program designed to assist them with their addictions. In Biddle’s case, he will be allowed to enter Care Center Ministries where he will undergo addiction treatment for a year prior to entering drug court. Biddle has been in Care Center Ministries before, but left voluntarily July 20th last year and returned to jail without completing the program. He returned to the local treatment facility about two weeks ago.
On Thursday, Biddle pled guilty to charges in four active drug cases now pending against him. According to electronic court records, Biddle has been charged with drug-related offenses in cases stretching back to at least 2009.
As he stood before the court, Biddle was charged in cases filed following arrests in May, July, August and October of last year. The charges in the cases include possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia, fleeing in a vehicle after being stopped by an Arkansas State Police trooper, bringing drugs into the Baxter County jail, carrying weapons and being a habitual offender.
After Biddle’s arrest on outstanding warrants in early October last year, Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery noted the Mountain Home man had been booked into the county jail 28 times since 2004.
The October arrest was somewhat unique in that officers seeking him on active warrants were led to Biddle after he posted various items for sale on a Facebook yard sale page. Utilizing a fake account, investigators arranged to meet Biddle at a business east of Henderson to purchase some of the items he had listed for sale. Biddle and investigators arrived at the agreed on location, and he was taken into custody.
At the time of that arrest, Biddle is alleged to have had methamphetamine in his possession. Investigators also looked into the items Biddle was advertising for sale to determine if they had been stolen, but he was not charged with any property crimes.
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