A Russellville man who police said hid a woman wanted on a felony warrant inside an apartment air return was among more than a dozen defendants recently sentenced in Pope County Circuit Court after entering guilty pleas.
The cases include offenses ranging from drug charges and sex offender registration violations to theft, terroristic threatening and hindering apprehension.
Byron Palmer, 64, of Russellville was sentenced to five years in state prison after pleading guilty to felony hindering apprehension or prosecution.
Palmer denied that a woman wanted on a felony warrant was inside his apartment, but police later found her headfirst inside an air return. As officers took Victoria Pineda into custody, investigators said Palmer began yelling at her and asking how she had gotten into his home.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Russellville police went to Palmer’s apartment Feb. 17 while searching for Pineda, who had been seen at the complex shortly before officers arrived.
Palmer told police she was not inside and said he no longer had contact with her because of her criminal activity. He continued to deny she was there after being warned he could face a hindering apprehension charge if she was found inside.
After another resident told police she frequently saw Pineda at Palmer’s apartment, officers returned. Police learned Palmer was on parole and had a search waiver on file. During the search, officers found a purse in a bathroom cabinet containing a debit card with Pineda’s name before finding her concealed inside the air return.
The affidavit says Palmer then began yelling at Pineda and asking how she had gotten into his house. Investigators noted the air-return filter and metal grate had been put back into place at her feet and determined it was highly unlikely she could have hidden herself there without assistance. Palmer was the only other person in the residence and was arrested for hindering apprehension.
Prosecutors charged Palmer as a habitual offender, citing 10 prior felony convictions.
Palmer was also sentenced to a 10-year suspended imposition of sentence and was assessed a $1,500 fine plus court costs and fees.
Billy Koyt Kidd was sentenced Tuesday to 12 months in the Pope County Detention Center after entering a guilty plea to a theft of property charge.
Kidd, 41, had originally been charged with Class B felony theft of property valued at more than $25,000. Prosecutors alleged the case involved a 2020 Fontaine 40-ton lowboy commercial trailer valued at approximately $47,000.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the trailer’s owner, Bobby Dean Anderson III, had paid Kidd $600 to move the trailer to property used by Kidd’s Battlecross Towing business in Dover. Anderson told investigators Kidd had permission to occasionally use the trailer, but ownership remained with Anderson. When Anderson later attempted to reclaim it, the trailer was no longer at the property.
Investigators said Kidd claimed he had lost access to the property and suggested the trailer might have been removed during a repossession. However, the couple selling the property to Kidd told investigators there had been no repossession or foreclosure, Kidd had continued to have access to the property and they had not removed anything from it.
The sentencing order filed Tuesday shows Kidd pleaded guilty to misdemeanor theft of property, with the offense reduced from the original felony allegation. He was sentenced to 12 months in county jail and received 102 days of jail credit. He was also assessed a $500 fine, $150 in court costs and a $40 booking fee.
Kidd is already serving a 33-year sentence after a Pope County jury found him guilty of arson earlier this year.
Arthur L. Bennett III, 53, of Dover was sentenced to 10 years of probation after pleading guilty to a felony charge of failing to comply with sex offender registration requirements.
According to the probable cause affidavit, a Pope County sheriff’s corporal responded March 27 to a welfare check after a caller expressed concern about a woman and children who were living in a tent on the property. The caller said Bennett, a registered sex offender, was also staying there.
The corporal was also advised that Bennett had been served with an active protection order prohibiting him from having contact with certain people at the property.
The affidavit states the corporal found Bennett at the property and arrested him on suspicion of violating the protection order.
Investigators also alleged Bennett had not reported a vehicle he had access to on his sex offender registration, which the affidavit states he was required to do within five days.
Bennett ultimately pleaded guilty to the felony registration charge. The protection-order violation was nolle prossed.
Bennett was placed on 10 years of probation and ordered to serve 120 days in the Pope County Detention Center, with credit for all 120 days already served. He was also assessed a $1,500 fine plus court costs and fees.
Dylan Haze Barnett, 26, was sentenced to four years of probation after pleading guilty to felony terroristic threatening and misdemeanor harassing communications.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Russellville police began investigating after Barnett allegedly went to a residence in May where he had previously been issued a criminal trespass warning and refused repeated requests to leave. Investigators said Barnett later pulled his vehicle in front of two people as they were driving away and then sent threatening messages saying he would kill them.
Police said one of the victims also reported receiving harassing and threatening messages from Barnett since an earlier April incident.
Barnett pleaded guilty to both charges. He was placed on 48 months of probation for the terroristic threatening charge and 12 months of probation for harassing communications. He received credit for 96 days previously spent in jail.
Barnett was also assessed a $1,500 fine, plus court costs and fees. As conditions of the sentence, he was ordered to enroll in and complete a drug rehabilitation program beginning within 30 days of his plea and to have no contact with the victims or their households.
Dreyton Bennett, 24, was sentenced to 18 months of probation after pleading guilty to felony aggravated assault on a certified law enforcement officer along with misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest, public intoxication and obstructing governmental operations.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Russellville police were flagged down shortly after midnight April 27 near the Handlebar Downtown after receiving a report that two people who appeared intoxicated had been attempting to drive away. Officers said Bennett was standing beside a truck, leaning against it to maintain his balance and smelling of alcohol.
Police said Bennett repeatedly refused to provide identification and pulled away when officers attempted to arrest him. The affidavit states Bennett later kicked at officers as they tried to place him in a patrol vehicle, making it difficult to secure him. After arriving at the Pope County Detention Center, investigators said Bennett remained combative during intake and purposely spit on an officer.
Bennett pleaded guilty to all four charges. He received 18 months of probation on the felony aggravated assault charge, 12 months on the resisting arrest charge and one month each on the public intoxication and obstructing governmental operations charges. He was assessed a $1,500 fine plus court costs and fees.
