Photos: Jessica Lynn Wuest and Randall Scott Beard
A husband and wife were taken into custody Monday and charged with drug trafficking offenses following a joint investigation between the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Marshals Service.
Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery says investigators from his department accompanied members of the U.S. Marshals Service to a residence on Baxter County Road 202 to attempt the apprehension of a parole absconder fugitive, 38-year-old Jessica Lynn Wuest of Glencoe.
Officers were directed to a camper trailer by Wuest’s husband, 40-year-old Randall Scott Beard of the Norfork area, who provided them with a key to gain entrance to the unit.
Receiving no response at the camper trailer after giving identification and instructed for the occupants to come to the door, officers used the key to gain entrance.
Once inside, they observed drug paraphernalia in plain view. Wuest was found hiding under the bed. She was taken into custody and advised there were drugs in the camper trailer.
During a search, officers uncovered approximately 200 grams of methamphetamine, approximately 111 grams of marijuana and multiple articles of drug paraphernalia used in the trafficking of narcotics. A quantity of approximately 38 prescription pills of various types was also found.
Wuest and Beard were taken to the Baxter County Detention Center.
They face felony charges of
* trafficking a controlled substance;
* possession of a Schedule VI controlled substance with the purpose of delivery;
* possession of methamphetamine with purpose of delivery; and
* possession of drug paraphernalia.
They are also charged with penalty enhancements under the Habitual Criminal Act and parole violations.
Wuest also has holds on felony bench warrants for failure to appear from Benton and Fulton counties on drug charges.
Both are being held on bonds of $25,000.
Beard has a no bond hold for the parole violation, as does Wuest. Her hold is also for the bench warrants from the other two counties.
Both are set to appear in Baxter County Circuit court in April.
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