HOT SPRINGS — A Hot Springs man already on parole from a 2020 Garland County drug conviction has been formally charged with two counts of delivery of methamphetamine following a pair of controlled buys that detectives say took place at Hot Springs hotels this spring.
Prosecuting Attorney Michelle C. Lawrence filed a felony information against Bryan Jermaine Ellis, 40, in Garland County Circuit Court on Wednesday, charging him with two counts of delivery of methamphetamine, each a Class B felony carrying five to 40 years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections and a fine of up to $15,000.
The state is also seeking a habitual offender enhancement under Arkansas Code Annotated 5-4-501, alleging in the charging document that Ellis “has previously been convicted of four (4) or more felonies.”
Court records show Ellis was arrested July 17 on a warrant issued a month earlier and is being held on a $150,000 bond.
Two controlled buys, two hotels
According to the affidavit for warrant of arrest filed by Hot Springs Police Detective Blake Forga, the investigation began on or about May 20, when a confidential informant identified Ellis as a narcotics dealer and told detectives he was moving between multiple Hot Springs hotels selling methamphetamine.
Detectives searched the informant with negative results, fitted the informant with an audio and video recording device and provided police buy money, the affidavit states. The informant was observed going to a local hotel and meeting Ellis, and Ellis “could be seen handing the CI an amount of methamphetamine,” according to the sworn statement.
The substance recovered after that buy weighed approximately 3.9 grams and field-tested positive for methamphetamine at the Hot Springs Police Department, Forga wrote.
Detectives met with a confidential informant again during the first week of June, according to the affidavit. That informant reported Ellis was still actively selling methamphetamine and made contact with him, and Ellis directed the informant to a different Hot Springs hotel for a controlled delivery.
Detectives again searched the informant, provided a recording device and buy money, and monitored the transaction by live feed, the affidavit states. The substance recovered from that buy weighed more than three grams and field-tested positive for methamphetamine.
Both samples were to be sent to the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory for confirmatory weight and identification, according to the affidavit.
The felony information alleges the first delivery occurred on or about May 20 and the second between June 1 and June 5. Both counts allege an aggregate weight, including any adulterant or diluent, of two grams or more but less than 10 grams — the threshold that makes the offense a Class B felony under Arkansas Code Annotated 5-64-422(b)(2).
A circuit judge signed the arrest warrant on June 15. Ellis was taken into custody at 2 p.m. on July 17 on Edison Avenue in Benton by Hot Springs officers W. Stockwell and A. Combs, according to an Arkansas Arrest/Disposition Report filed with the case.
Serving an eight-year sentence at the time
On a bail bond determination form completed the day of his arrest, Ellis reported that he was on probation or parole with a term of eight years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections and listed a prior felony conviction in Garland County. He gave an address on Quapaw Avenue in Hot Springs, where he said he had lived for two weeks, and reported working as a cook at a Hot Springs McDonald’s for $600 biweekly.
Court records tie that sentence to case 26CR-20-780, a 2020 Garland County case in which Ellis was charged with possession of methamphetamine with purpose to deliver, possession of cocaine with purpose to deliver and possession of drug paraphernalia.
That case arose from a traffic stop at about 1 a.m. on Oct. 13, 2020, on the East Grand Avenue service road. Cpl. J. Cantrell stopped a white Cadillac CTS that had run a stop sign, according to the probable cause affidavit in that case, and identified the driver as Ellis. A dispatch check showed Ellis was an active parolee with a search waiver on file and that his Arkansas driver’s license was suspended.
A search of the vehicle turned up 1.5 grams of a crystalline substance in the center console cup holder and another 2.3 grams in a container between the passenger seat and console, both of which tested positive for methamphetamine, Cantrell wrote. At the jail, officers recovered an eyeglass case containing two used syringes, 2.2 grams of a green leafy substance, 0.4 grams of a substance that tested positive for cocaine and a spoon.
Online court records show that case is now closed and reflect two 96-month Department of Corrections sentences.
A long docket
Arkansas court records list 73 case records naming Ellis as a defendant, dating back at least to 2004. Those include roughly a dozen felony filings in Garland County Circuit Court between 2009 and 2020, a 2004 felony case in Pulaski County and dozens of Hot Springs city and Garland County traffic and criminal docket entries stretching from 2006 forward.
The new case is the only one listed as open.
An initial appearance date has not yet been reflected in the online docket. No attorney of record was listed for Ellis as of Wednesday.
Charges contained in a felony information are allegations only. Ellis is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
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