Justin Chastain (Photo courtesy of Baxter County Sheriff’s Office)
A man staying at the AmericInn in late September last year and was arrested along with two others after reports were made that possible drug sales were being made out of their room appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court Monday.
Fifty-two-year-old Justin Chastain was listed as the one who had rented the room. He pled guilty to the drug-related charges against him and was given 10 years in prison.
Chastain also pled guilty to drug related charges in a Marion County case in which he was accused of selling methamphetamine to a person working with law enforcement. The sentence in the Marion County case will be served concurrent with the one handed down in the Baxter County case.
BAXTER COUNTY CASE
Investigators were told that a side door at the hotel had been propped open and that after hours a “high volume” of foot traffic was going in and out of the room.
The occupants of the room were reported to have arrived in two vehicles – a white Ford Explorer SUV and a gray BMW sedan.
Staff reported the male occupants of the room had left the property in the Ford Explorer and that investigators would be alerted when the men returned.
Hotel staff did report the return of the males and police officers went to the hotel.
The officer knocked and announced to no avail for some time before a female was reported to have finally answered the door.
Two people exited the room and were detained. Chastain was found trying to hide behind the door. At the time, Chastain had an active arrest warrant issued by the Gassville Police Department.
Other than Chastain, 59-year-old John Cox and 41-year-old Kandis Bolen were found to be in the room.
Police found a smoking device used to ingest methamphetamine behind the microwave in the room, along with a plastic bag with white crystalline residue, a bag with unused syringes, a scale with white crystalline residue on it and a small bag of marijuana.
Permission was given for the officers to search the Explorer and the BMW. A bag of marijuana and a used marijuana smoking pipe were found. A small semi-automatic pistol was reported to have been found in the driver’s side door of the Explorer.
Chastain and the other two found in the room were arrested and taken to the Baxter County Detention Center where he was booked on charges of possession of methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Chastain is being held in the Lawrence County jail at Walnut Ridge on child support issues, according to an announcement made in court Monday. When he has completed his time there, he will be returned here to wait to be transported to prison.
The case against John Cox was dismissed by the state in late April. Kandis Boren is set to make her next court appearance in August.
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