Brandon Farrell (Photo courtesy of Baxter County Sheriff’s Office)
A man appeared in circuit court April 22 facing a charge of violating the terms and conditions of his probation handed down in a Baxter County case by pleading guilty to new charges in St. Francis County.
One condition of probation requires people to not break the law.
Forty-one-year-old Brandon Farrell, who has listed addresses in Mountain Home, Mountain View and Forrest City on court documents, admitted violating the terms and conditions of his probation. The probation was extended for one year.
PETITION FILED
A petition was filed late last year to revoke his probation in the Baxter County case after Farrell was charged in St. Francis County Circuit Court with hitting a victim and potential witness in a stolen property case in the head with a baseball bat on Sept. 15, 2024.
Farrell was reported to have been upset that the victim of the theft had mentioned his name to the police investigating the theft case.
At one point, Farrell claimed the argument happened during a phone conversation and that he was not at the victim’s house.
Then, he said he had been at the house and had hit the victim in self-defense because the man had picked up a meat cleaver and “came at” him. The victim and witnesses said that story was false and that the victim had never touched the cleaver. Farrell pled guilty to second-degree battery and was sentenced to eight years probation in the St. Francis County case, with the first two years supervised.
The intimidating a witness charge was dropped by the state.
BAXTER COUNTY CASE
The Baxter County case was filed against Farrell in 2020.
He was arrested when a Mountain Home police officer was on routine patrol about 11 p.m., Nov. 3, 2020, and saw a pickup truck pulled into an inoperative carwash at a convenience store located at Ninth and College streets.
The officer noted the vehicle was sitting in the carwash bay with no lights on when he approached.
He found Farrell and then 28-year-old Courtney Ramsey in the vehicle.
When Farrell was asked what he was doing in such an unusual parking spot so late at night, he said he was picking up some tires he had left there.
As officers continue to investigate, they found drugs and drug paraphernalia.
Several bags of a substance testing positive for methamphetamine were found concealed behind the small door covering the neck of the fuel tank.
In addition, marijuana seeds were found in Ramsey’s luggage that was in the bed of the pickup truck.
Farrell claimed the methamphetamine belonged to Ramsey. When questioned, Ramsey did not claim the illegal substance.
When told that Farrell had said the drug belonged to her, Ramsey asked for an attorney.
Ramsey pled guilty to her charges in late January 2021 and was put on probation for four years.
Farrell pled guilty to drug possession on May 2, 2022, and placed on supervised probation for five years.
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