Photo: Jason Carl Proffitt
Jason Carl Proffitt of Yellville was back in Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday to face charges filed against him.
The 31-year-old Proffitt appeared in court on a video hookup from the Delta Regional Unit of the state prison system where he is serving a 12-year sentence on Marion County charges. He entered a guilty plea to his Baxter County charges and was given six years in prison to run concurrent with the time he is now spending.
Proffitt was pulled over by an Arkansas State Police trooper in Mountain Home on Jan. 14. The stop was made because Proffitt was driving a pickup truck with a license plate registered to another vehicle.
Because he was on probation stemming from convictions in Marion County, Proffitt had signed a waiver permitting warrantless searches. In the search, the trooper found marijuana, methamphetamine, hypodermic needles, a methadone pill, a smoking pipe and a set of digital scales in a small bag in the center console of the vehicle.
The new charges in Baxter County caused the proverbial dominoes to fall. A petition was filed to revoke Proffitt’s bond in Marion County and he was ordered to report to the Marion County jail Jan. 25.
But, Proffitt made things worse for himself and even more complicated, when he didn’t show up. He was declared a fugitive and a warrant for his arrest was issued. Proffitt is alleged to have cut off an ankle monitor he had been ordered to wear, making it impossible to track him electronically.
He was reported to have been picked up in South Dakota and returned to Arkansas. He was booked into the Marion County jail just before 3 p.m. on March 6.
In Proffitt’s initial Marion County case — filed in October 2015 – he was convicted of unlawful discharge of a firearm from a vehicle and aggravated assault.
He had first been charged with criminal attempt to commit first-degree murder.
On June 23, 2016, Proffitt was given 15 years probation in the original case.
According to court records, he was reported to have fired several rounds at a pickup truck driven by another male in late 2015. The attack was reported to have stemmed from an argument over prescription pain medication.
Proffitt had allegedly obtained oxycodone from the victim at one time, but the arrangement had apparently gone sour.
In another version, the attack was said to be due to an argument over a woman.
The second Marion County case against Proffitt was filed in early June 2019 charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm and endangering the welfare of a minor.
Proffitt was accused of showing a pistol to his then pre-teen daughter and giving her a lesson in how to use it. In the probable cause affidavit, Proffitt was reported to have left the gun in a dresser drawer in the girl’s room.
On Nov. 13, 2019, Proffitt pled no contest to the new charges against him in Marion County Circuit Court, as well as admitting he had violated the terms and conditions of his probation handed down in the 2015 shooting case.
He was scheduled to be sentenced in Marion County Circuit Court Jan. 15. The defense asked for a continuance to allow more time to have a pre-sentencing report completed.
The matter was discussed in Marion County Circuit Court on Jan. 14 – the same day he was pulled over by the Arkansas State Police trooper in Mountain Home, and drugs were found.
The new charge in Baxter County resulted in a petition being filed to revoke Proffitt’s bond in Marion County, and he was ordered to report to the Marion County jail at 9 a.m., Jan. 25, but was a no-show. Failure to appear warrants were issued in both Baxter and Marion counties.
In addition to the maze of criminal charges in two counties, court records also contain a long trail of paperwork related to a divorce and child custody battle between Proffitt and his ex-wife.
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