A Flippin man whose history of court appearances in Baxter and Marion Counties stretches back to 1996 was back before the bench in Baxter County Circuit Court June 2.
Forty-seven-year-old Michael Ray Vetor entered a not guilty plea to his latest Baxter County drug-related charges during an earlier court session.
On Monday, his public defender announced that had been no actio in the case. Vetor’s cases in both Baxter and Marion Counties have been slow to move through the system.
The probable cause affidavit in his Baxter County case was filed February 1, 2024, but has yet to be disposed of and the case in Marion County is even older.
In Baxter County, Vetor, who is free on $20,000 bond, was booked on charges of possessing methamphetamine and Fentynal for purposes of selling the drugs.
He was jailed December 31 last year at 2:34 p.m. and released less than two hours later after posting his bond. Jail record show he has been booked into the Baxter County jail 25 times.
The latest charges were filed after a person working with law enforcement allegedly bought Fentanyl and methamphetamine from Vetor during the month of February 2024.
During the years, Vetor has had a total of 11 felony cases opened on him in Baxter and Marion Counties. His charges have included multiple drug offenses, passing counterfeit money, being a felon in possession of a firearm, residential burglary, breaking or entering and theft of property.
A significant number of the cases have been dismissed. Court records do not contain explanations as to why charges were dropped.
Court records show his Marion County drug case has been open since October 15, 2021. It has been continued 19 times according to court records, with some of the continuances blamed on the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is now set for trial November 24. If the trial begins on that date, it will be four years, one month and 10 days since the case was filed.
In March 2022, Deputy Prosecutor John Russo filed an objection to a defense request for yet another continuance.
He wrote that the defendant and his attorneys from the Public Defenders’ office “have had plenty of time to prepare for trial and have been given adequate notice and time to prepare by this court.”
The objection does not appear to have been ruled on and the Marion County case has dragged on for another three years.
In the Marion County case, Vetor is charged with selling what he is alleged to have represented as 3.1 grams of methamphetamine in 2021. The “customer” was a person working with law enforcement.
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