A Mountain Home man with a record stretching back more than two decades appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court Monday and pled not guilty to charges in the 12th criminal case opened on him since 2002.
Thirty-nine-year-old Robert Dillon Willett’s latest arrest came on May 8 when an Arkansas State Police trooper stopped a truck being driven by Willett on U.S. Highway 62/412 for a traffic violation.
The trooper reported seeing a glass pipe commonly used to ingest methamphetamine sticking out of a cup in the center console.
A vape pen was found in his pocket. Willett is alleged to have said it contained marijuana.
Willett has been an inmate in the Baxter County Detention Center since his arrest.
OTHER RECENT CASES
In other recent cases, Willett was arrested in the early morning hours of June 12, 2020, when Baxter County sheriff’s deputies responded to a possible Fentanyl overdose at a resident along Old Arkana Road.
An ambulance from Baxter Health arrived in advance of the deputies and EMTs had already administered Narcan to the then 44-year-old woman suspected of having overdosed.
She was taken to Baxter Health for further treatment.
Trouble for Willett began when the deputies saw a 12-guage shotgun in the residence he was reported to share with the woman. Willett, who is a convicted felon, cannot be in contact with weapons. He said he borrowed the shotgun to shoot skunks.
During a search of the residence, deputies also found items of drug paraphernalia, including used syringes and a glass-smoking pipe used to ingest methamphetamine.
When deputies questioned Willett about the location of the Fentanyl that had caused the overdose, he said he had thrown it out in the woods before the lawmen arrived.
Willett picked up additional felony drug charges as the result of a February 16, 2019, traffic stop. According to the probable cause affidavit, a Mountain Home police officer pulled Willett over shortly after midnight.
The officer initiated the stop after seeing the pickup truck Willett was driving traveling in the opposing lane of traffic.
The officer reported he was aware Willett was on felony probation with an active search waiver on file. The waiver means Willett has agreed to warrantless searches of his person, residence and vehicle at any time as a condition of probation.
Methamphetamine and paraphernalia used to ingest the drug were found in Willett’s vehicle.
In the past, the courts have handed down one suspended sentence after another in criminal cases involving Willett dating back to 2002 when the first case shows up on electronic court records.
Willett was 19-years-old at the time.
Willett was given a six-year prison sentence on a number of drug related charges in 2011. Records show he entered prison August 26, 2011 and was released about nine months later.
The charges which sent Willett to prison in 2011 stemmed from his involvement – along with several co-defendants – in manufacturing methamphetamine at a residence along Apple Blossom Circle.
He was charged with manufacturing a controlled substance, being in possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia.
A company specializing in cleaning up methamphetamine manufacturing operations was brought in to deal with the situation.
Records at the Baxter County Detention Center show Willett being booked in on several occasions on apparent parole violations, meaning that while on parole he had violated the terms and conditions of his release.
In addition, he has been ordered into one of the Community Correction Centers in the state where people are normally sent to undergo treatment for addictions.
Prior to his arrest in mid-May, Willett had criminal charges filed against him in May and December 2002, July 2006, September and December 2010, May 2013, October 2014, February 2015, September 2017, February 2019 and June 2020
He spent only months of his 5-year prison sentence stemming from his 2019 conviction. According to prison records, he was released under provisions of the Emergency Powers Act – legislation passed to help ease overcrowding in the state prison system.
Drug-related charges make up the vast majority of the cases set up against Willett through the years.
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