18 East Drug Task Force arrests former Garland County public defender on multiple drug charges. A local attorney and the former chief public defender for Garland County, until he was fired last year, was arrested early Wednesday morning on multiple felony drug charges by the 18th Judicial District East Drug Task Force. Timothy Neal Beckham, 51, who lists a Bowlsby Court address, was taken into custody at his residence shortly after 6 a.m. by the DTF and taken to the Garland County Detention Center for processing along with an alleged accomplice, Christy Lee Utton, 37, who lists the same address. Garland County Prosecuting Attorney Michelle Lawrence, whose office oversees the DTF, confirmed to The Sentinel-Record the arrests had been made, but stressed the investigation was still ongoing with search warrants executed at Beckham's residence and his law office, which is listed on Facebook as being at 229 Woodbine St. Lawrence said she would be requesting a special prosecutor be appointed by the state to handle the case per standard protocol to avoid any perceptions of conflict or bias in the prosecution of the charges. Although Beckham and Utton were taken to the jail early Wednesday, Utton wasn't booked in until shortly before 4 p.m., and Beckham was booked in shortly after 4 p.m. Both were being held on zero bond. Among the charges filed against both were simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms, punishable by up to life in prison, multiple counts of delivery of meth or cocaine, multiple counts of possession of a controlled substance with purpose to deliver, punishable by up to 10 to 20 years in prison, maintaining a drug premises, unauthorized use of another person's property to facilitate a crime, and two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia, each punishable by up to 20 years. Utton was also charged with three counts of fraudulent use of a communication device, while Beckham had two additional charges of possession of a controlled substance, one punishable by up to 10 years and one by up to 20 years. Beckham had been chief public defender for Garland County for several years but was reportedly fired last summer. According to the arrest affidavit, the DTF and Homeland Security agents executed the search warrant at the Bowlsby Court residence with Homeland Security's Special Response Team making entry and securing the residence. Both Beckham and Utton were located inside and detained. In searching the residence, the agents allegedly found a baggie with 1.8 grams of what tested positive for meth on the kitchen island under a USPS notification in Beckham's name, a .40-caliber pistol with loaded magazine in a kitchen drawer, a .380-caliber handgun with an empty magazine in another kitchen drawer, miscellaneous ammunition, a glass smoking device made from a Coke bottle, three packages of baggies, a digital scale, a baggie with 3.6 grams of what tested positive for cocaine on one of the kitchen cabinets, and two mushroom chocolate bars, one containing 70 grams of mushrooms and the other containing 55 grams of mushrooms, in the refrigerator. In the living room, they allegedly found another glass pipe with residue, multiple vials of pharmaceutical drugs, one unused syringe and alcohol wipes. In the master bedroom closet, they allegedly found a THC candy bar, 10 packages of THC gummies, a package of "magic mushrooms," a four-pack of "Mamba" sativa cigarettes, baggies of loose psilocybin mushrooms, approximately 18.7 grams, and a zipper baggie with multiple glass pipes. An unlabeled pill bottle with 47 small, round pills, not marked, was found in the kitchen cabinet, and another baggie with 1 gram of meth was found inside the pocket of a pair of blue jeans. A glass plate with 8.6 grams of meth was found along with more baggies of meth found in a black purse on the floor near the bed. Two more digital scales were allegedly found in the bedroom along with "scoops" and more empty baggies. A cigarette box with 2 grams of cocaine was also found along with a package of Kratom and various vials of liquid controlled substances. It was noted the pipes and bongs found are commonly used to ingest meth, and most had burn marks and residue. It was determined Beckham was renting the residence from another person who was contacted and stated Beckham did not have permission to use or sell narcotics. It was also noted the residence was within 1,000 feet of a bus stop.
The 16th Drug Task Force, operating out of Independence County, in conjunction with the Independence County Sheriff's Office, Batesville Police Department, and Arkansas State Police, conducted a six-month investigation resulting in the seizure of 179 grams of methamphetamine, 479 grams of marijuana, 18 grams of psilocybin mushrooms, 18 grams of substances containing 423 hydrocodone pills, $9,934 in US currency, and six firearms.
