Former drug counselor pleads guilty to drug charges

A former drug counselor appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court Monday (May 5) and pled guilty to the most recent in a string of drug-related charges that have been filed against him.

Forty-nine-year-old Dennis James Amaral, Jr., who now lists an address in Yellville, was sentenced to six years in prison with a judicial transfer to one of the community correction centers in the state. The prison/community corrections time is to be followed by 15 years suspended imposition of sentence.

Court records show that charges were brought against Amaral in 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2016, 2018 and 2024.

His latest arrest came on April 6 last year when an officer from the Cotter Police Department stopped a vehicle being driven by Amaral.

The officer reported Amaral was carrying a knife on his belt and was “”acting nervously.””

A search of a backpack that Amaral identified as belonging to him turned up a small pill bottle with a white residue testing positive for methamphetamine.

The officer also discovered that the middle console of the vehicle came out. A search of the compartment yielded four bags of methamphetamine in both crushed and rock form, a bag of Fentanyl pills, a set of scales and $990 in cash.

The methamphetamine weighed almost 90 grams.

During the years, cases have been opened on Amaral for trafficking Fentynal, selling methamphetamine and possessing items of paraphernalia used to ingest the drugs.

When police have conducted compliance checks at homes where Amaral resided or searched vehicles of his that have been involved in traffic stops, drugs, drug paraphernalia and thousands of dollars in cash have been seized.

For a time, Amaral was active in drug counseling, church work and was listed as a member of the Arkansas Legislative Task Force on Substance Abuse Treatment Services.

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