Man turns back on efforts to help him with meth addiction

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A 20-year-old man who has turned his back on a number of breaks given him by the justice system to help him deal with his methamphetamine addiction was in Baxter County Circuit Court Monday to appear in the third drug case filed against him since 2018.

Kane Gott, Jr., who lists a Gainesville address, was recently arrested after allegedly selling two grams of methamphetamine to a person working with law enforcement for $100. Gott entered a not guilty plea to his newest charges.

Gott’s problems with the law began in December 2018 when it was reported he was going into Walmart and using display phones to access Facebook.

A store manager and a Mountain Home police officer escorted Gott out of the store. The officer searched him and found a pipe used to smoke methamphetamine and a small bag containing what Gott was alleged to have admitted was methamphetamine.

In the initial case, Gott was put on probation for 48 months, but because he was only 18 at the time, the sentence was imposed under provisions of Act 346, the first offender’s law.

If Gott had stayed out of trouble during his time on probation, he could have applied to have his record sealed, meaning he would not have had a felony conviction on his record for the rest of his life.

He did get in trouble again, however. In late January 2019, a tip lead Mountain Home police to a room at the Executive Inn where Gott was arrested after being found with methamphetamine and a smoking pipe in his possession. He was on probation from the 2018 conviction at the time.

In the second case, he was put on probation for six years and ordered into an additional treatment program operated by Care Center Ministries in Mountain Home.

Kerry Chism, 14th Judicial District deputy prosecutor, told the court at the time Gott was sentenced in the second case that his normal recommendation would be to send Gott to prison. He said because Gott was so young, the decision was made to give him another chance to break his drug addiction that was causing his problems with the law.

Gott did not take advantage of what was offered, however. A revocation petition was filed in the 2019 case after Gott walked off from the Care Center Ministries program and his whereabouts were unknown for a time. He was also reported to have used methamphetamine.

Gott was sent to prison as a result of the revocation.

Electronic records show he is on parole and being actively supervised by the Mountain Home office of Arkansas Community Corrections.

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