Guilty verdict for man caught with 2,300 pounds of pot

LITTLE ROCK, AR - Christopher R. Thyer, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, announced that a federal jury returned guilty verdicts May 1, 2012, against Eric Lee Carter, age 29, of Tucson, Arizona, on a two count indictment charging conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana and possession with intent to distribute more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana. Carter was taken into the custody of the U.S. Marshal after the verdict. Sentencing will be set by the Court at a later date. He faces a possible sentence of not less than ten (10) years and not more than life imprisonment and/or up to a $4,000,000 fine, not less than five (5) years supervised release.

“This verdict sends a strong statement regarding the commitment of law enforcement to coordinate their resources across Arkansas and throughout the country to target and prosecute those involved in drug trafficking organizations,” stated Thyer. “We depend on High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) partnerships to help bring about successful prosecutions such as this 2,000 pound marijuana case.”

The charges were the result of the discovery of over 2,300 pounds of marijuana concealed in a false wall in a tractor-trailer during a May 2009 traffic stop of Carter and Christopher Paul Dercola, age 32, of Douglasville, Georgia, by Arkansas State Police (ASP). The ASP Trooper stopped the tractor trailer for speeding on I-40 in Lonoke County, Arkansas. The Trooper became suspicious when the information provided by Carter and Dercola was inconsistent. The Trooper requested and received consent to search and noticed that there was no seal on the trailer which is usually applied to ensure that the contents are not tampered with. He also noticed that the front wall appeared to be newer plywood with new screws and silicone. The Trooper then used his range finder to determine that the trailer was 53 feet long, but that the inside of the trailer only measured 49 feet long, indicating a false wall. He drilled the wall and saw the bundles of marijuana. There were 106 bundles of marijuana recovered.

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Fired substitute in lap dancing class apologizes

“First, I apologize this situation happened. I never intended nor "let" this happen. I am embarrassed for anyone to think I would "let" this happen. I am a single-mother of three, my middle child being a female, so, for anyone to say I "let" this happen is appalling."Full Story Here

Hillcrest Farmers Market is back

The Hillcrest Farmers Market had a soft opening this weekend at the Pulaski Heights Baptist Church, and we thought we'd drop by to get a sneak peek of all the tasty things that our area growers had to offer before the grand opening May 5th. And since it was early — and we'd left without our breakfast — we were overjoyed to see Jeffrey Palsa, owner of The Food Truck, manning the grill and serving up a full breakfast menu of biscuit sandwiches, breakfast burritos, fresh fruit and some of the finest sausage gravy around. He greeted us with a cheerful "Good morning!" and then immediately told us we'd better pay a visit to the folks selling strawberries because they were both delicious and selling fast. We quickly put our order in and went down to take a look at the berries. Full Story

Misappropriated funds at Little Rock Veterans Home

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - Arkansas Veterans Home Administrator, Janet Levine, has been terminated following an investigation into complaints by employees and residents.

The Arkansas Veterans Home is supposed to be a place of care. But according to an anonymous employee who wrote this letter to Veterans Affairs, it is far from it.

"The Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs terminated Janet Levine, the administrator of the Little Rock home," says Kendall Thornton, VA Public Relations.

She says the letter prompted an investigation into Levine's management. Most of the accusations proved to be false but through the course of the investigation, the VA found other issues. Full Story