HOT SPRINGS -- A habitual offender arrested in 2020 after he crashed an SUV into a power pole and was found with a loaded gun and numerous drugs was sentenced to 10 years in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty in Garland County Circuit Court.

Blake Daniel Johnson, 30, of Hot Springs, pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by certain persons and possession of drug paraphernalia and was sentenced to 20 years in prison, with 10 years suspended, on each count, and to possession of meth with purpose to deliver, and was sentenced to 10 years, all to run concurrently.

Additional charges of simultaneous possession of drugs and a firearm, unauthorized use of another person's property to facilitate a crime and possession of a controlled substance, involving pills, were withdrawn.

Johnson is classified as a habitual offender after having been convicted in 2012 of possession of a controlled substance with purpose to deliver, breaking or entering, theft of property and criminal mischief; in 2015 of two counts of breaking or entering; and in 2019 of felony fleeing, where he was sentenced to six years in prison, with all of it suspended, so he was on active probation with a search waiver on file.

According to the probable cause affidavit on his 2020 arrest, on July 6, shortly before 6 a.m., Garland County sheriff's Cpl. Clayton Green was dispatched to a wreck in the 1500 block of Marion Anderson Road and noted a power pole had been struck and snapped in half, but there was no vehicle around.

He continued on to the 1600 block of Marion Anderson, where he saw a blue Hyundai SUV backed into a driveway with extensive front-end damage. Standing near the vehicle was a man, later identified as Johnson, and when Green asked him if he had struck a pole with his vehicle, Johnson laughed and said the pole "came out in front of him."

Johnson had no visible injuries and asked Green if he could call someone to get his vehicle. He made a couple of calls and was unable to get anyone, so Green called for a wrecker to tow the vehicle.

A computer check revealed active warrants for Johnson's arrest, so Green took him into custody. He noted Johnson had a syringe cap in his pocket and a further pat-down search uncovered three more syringes in his other pockets.

In searching the vehicle, Green found a plastic sack with a pill bottle inside that contained a baggie of what later tested positive for meth, 1.7 grams. Another baggie in the sack had 23 clonazepam pills, five alprazolam pills and a hard shell case holding eight 9-mm rounds. Green found another shell case that contained six Gabapentin pills, a glass pipe with marijuana residue, a baggie with 0.9 gram of marijuana, a syringe, and a set of digital scales.

Under the front passenger seat, the deputy found a folded-up shirt covering a 9-mm pistol, loaded with one round in the chamber and four in the magazine. It was also determined the vehicle was a rental.

Green was released on July 17 on a $50,000 bond. He pleaded not guilty to the charges on Sept. 14, 2020, and was initially set for trial on Oct. 19, 2021, but after being continued several times the case was reset for a disposition hearing on Wednesday.

Print Headline: Man takes plea as habitual offender

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