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Monte Johnston Out of Jail, Facing New TrialLock Icon

3 min read

You wouldn’t think it could get worse for Monte Johnston, the Springdale businessman who is facing several felony charges alleging domestic abuse and a consumer protection lawsuit filed in 2016 by the Arkansas attorney general’s office related to his used car business.

But it has.

On Nov. 1, the day Arkansas Business went to press on its Page 1 story about the 48-year-old, Johnston was in Springdale District Court facing seven misdemeanor charges, including resisting arrest, possession of drug paraphernalia, public intoxication and his second driving while intoxicated charge.

Washington County District Judge Jeff Harper threw the book at Johnston, giving him the maximum sentence and fines on each charge, according to Springdale Senior Deputy City Attorney Taylor Samples.

Samples said he thought Johnston received the maximum because back in May he was convicted of a misdemeanor in connection with a domestic violence charge and received a one-year suspended jail sentence. “And then he reoffended,” Samples said.

Samples also said “a lot of evidence” was introduced at the trial, including the testimony of six or seven police officers.

Nearly all of the charges carried a one-year jail sentence, to be applied concurrently, a sentence that Johnston began serving Nov. 1. He also was ordered to pay a total of $12,370 in fines, court costs and fees associated with the convictions.

Johnston was released from jail on Nov. 5, when his attorney, Shane Wilkinson of Bentonville, appealed the sentences to Washington County Circuit Court, where Johnston will receive a new trial on the charges.

Wilkinson didn’t represent Johnston in the district court cases; that was done by attorney Jeff Watson of Springdale.

Wilkinson said he was going to “give it a shot” in circuit court. “I guess the good thing is it can’t be worse,” he said.

The city attorney’s office said it will be ready to try the cases again.

“I have every intention of going forward on the prosecution on all this stuff again,” Samples said.

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Meanwhile, Johnston is facing four felony charges tied to domestic abuse that are pending in Washington County Circuit Court. Johnston has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges.

His next court date is Dec. 11.

You may recall that Johnston was arrested on Oct. 23 for alleged possession of a controlled substance and public intoxication, according to a Washington County Sheriff’s Office report. He bonded out of the Washington County Detention Center later that day.

As of Thursday, he hadn’t been charged in Washington County Circuit Court in connection with that arrest.

His attorney, Wilkinson, said in an email to Whispers that the possession charge was for Adderall, the prescription medication used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, which Johnston had a prescription for. “That has since been provided to the Washington County Prosecutor’s Office,” he said.

Matt Durrett, Washington County prosecuting attorney, said in an email to Whispers that he couldn’t comment on the specifics of that case until it has been resolved.

“I can say that, generally, if a person is arrested for possessing prescription medication and has a prescription for that particular medication, we aren’t going to file a charge, since we have to prove that a person possessed a controlled substance unlawfully,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, another person close to Johnston took issue with the unnamed person who recently reviewed Johnston’s tax records and told Arkansas Business they showed Johnston had assets of more than $30 million.

This caller, who said he knows Johnston and asked that Whispers not mention his name, said that $30 million figure seems hard to believe. “It doesn’t appear to be the case,” the caller said.

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