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18 pounds of meth, $120,000 in cash seized in traffic stop

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JONESBORO — A traffic stop on Sunday afternoon resulted in the seizure of more than 18 pounds of methamphetamine and more than $120,000 in cash, according to the Craighead County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputy Cody Ladner pulled over a 1996 Ford Mustang at about 3:30 p.m. at the intersection of Arkansas 226 and Craighead Road 189, according of the CCSO incident report.

The driver, a 59-year-old Jonesboro man, appeared nervous, Ladner said in his report.

“After approaching the vehicle, I informed the driver who I was and the reason for my stop …

While speaking with (the suspect), he appeared to be extremely nervous with his hands and stomach area visibly shaking. I also detected a strong odor of marijuana coming from inside of the vehicle,” Ladner wrote.

“After observing (the suspect’s) extremely nervous behavior, I asked him to exit the vehicle while I ran his information through dispatch. Once I asked (him) to exit, he initially refused and he appeared to become confrontational.

“A short time later, (the suspect) exited, and I asked him to walk to the front of my patrol vehicle. He then appeared to become even more nervous and quickly walked back toward his vehicle as if he was going to flee from the scene. I then approached (him) and walked with him to the front of my patrol vehicle.

Due to his extremely nervous and erratic behavior, I believed that he was possibly armed and could become dangerous.

“I then attempted to conduct a pat down of (the suspect) for weapons. Once I began the pat down, he repeatedly removed his hands from the hood of my vehicle and attempted to pull away from me. I then secured (him) in wrist restraints and continued the pat down. No weapons were detected during the pat down, but I did feel a large bulge in his front right pocket that I was unable to identify. While I spoke with (the suspect), Sergeant Taylor Iglehart decided to conduct a free air sniff of the vehicle with his K9 partner. I was then informed by Sergeant Iglehart that his K9 alerted on the vehicle, and (the suspect) was informed that a search would be conducted.”

In the back seat of the suspect’s vehicle, deputies found a cardboard box containing more than 6,000 grams of meth along with cash.

“Agents with the 2nd Judicial Drug Task Force, Jonesboro Police Department, Arkansas State Police and the Craighead County Sheriffs Office conducted a search warrant on the suspect’s residence where more suspected drugs and related proceeds were located” according to the CCSO.

“A significant amount of money was found in his residence,” Chad Henson, commander of the 2nd Judicial District’s Drug Task Force. “We could tell that he was a hub for meth.

With that amount of money you could tell he was deal-

Continued on Page 9

Photo courtesy of CCSO STATE NEWS (cont.)

ing a lot of meth.”

The suspect was released after posting a $500,000 bond.

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JONESBORO — Former Craighead County Clerk Jacob Kade Holliday was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison Wednesday for taking more than $1.5 million in county money for his personal use.

Holliday, 34, of Jonesboro, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge James M. Moody, Jr., who also imposed three years of supervised release after Holliday completes his prison term.

In June 2020, Craighead County officials reported that a theft had occurred from the Craighead County Clerk’s office. The bank that managed the Clerk’s office account had flagged suspicious activity, and auditors concluded that approximately $1,579,057.03 was missing and had been moved to Holliday’s personal banking accounts. Law enforcement interviewed Holliday, who admitted to taking the money to fund his businesses: Holliday Development and Management, LLC, and Total Healthcare, LLC, both of which operated restaurants and coffee shops in Jonesboro.

Holliday told investigators he planned to pay the money back, but once the COVID-19 pandemic caused most of his businesses to close, he could not replace the money.

Holliday was indicted in December 2020, when a grand jury charged him with 11 counts of wire fraud for each withdrawal he made from the county account. He pleaded guilty in February of this year and acknowledged that his method was to make a transfer from the county account to one of his personal accounts and then get a cashier’s check from his personal account for the same amount. He pleaded guilty to Count 1 of the indictment, which charged him with wire fraud for his first fraudulent transfer of $101,782.97 on January 29, 2020. In his plea agreement, Holliday agreed to pay $1,579,057.03 in restitution to Craighead County. Holliday is currently serving a 120-month sentence in a state case for forgery, and Judge Moody ordered that his federal sentence will not begin until the state sentence is completed. The FBI, Arkansas State Police, and Craighead County Sheriff’s Department conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Allison W. Bragg prosecuted the case.

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