One of three people charged in a Marion County convenience store theft scheme entered a no contest plea Wednesday during a special session of Baxter County Circuit Court.
Thirty-three-year-old Jesse Del Clark of Midway was sentenced to three years in the Arkansas Department of Correction, followed by three years probation. Clark was also ordered to pay almost $15,300 in restitution, with each of his two co-defendants responsible for a third of the amount. If one of the co-defendants fails to pay, the total amount due would fall to the other two parties in the scheme.
Clark will begin making payments of at least $100 per month 60 days after he is released from prison.
The Midway man was charged with felony theft of property in connection with a scheme involving repeated daily trips to a Bull Shoals convenience store. The trips sometimes reaching five to six visits a week involved Clark and a co-defendant appearing to purchase items for which they never paid.
According to the arrest affidavit, while reviewing surveillance tapes for an unrelated matter, the store owner observed two customers repeatedly appearing about the same time day after day. He further noted the co-defendants took a number of assorted items, placed them on the counter where an employee from Bull Shoals, would bag them. When the bag was given to the co-defendants, they would remove the items without paying for them. The items included cigarettes, beer, wine, lottery tickets and other miscellaneous products.
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