Man with lengthy criminal record enters guilty plea

A man who has faced charges in a number of criminal cases during the past 22 years was back in Baxter County Circuit Court Monday where he pled guilty to his charges and was sentenced to six years in prison with a judicial transfer to one of the Community Correction Centers in the state.

Forty-eight-year-old David Sutterfield was expected to plead guilty to the charges in three open criminal cases during a court session on May 19 but he failed to appear.

In an earlier court session, Sutterfield had been given time to “get his affairs in order” before returning May 19 to formally enter his plea and be sentenced.

But Sutterfield did not keep his word and a failure to appear warrant was issued for him.

Baxter County Detention Center records show Sutterfield was booked in on the failure to appear charge just before 5 p.m. on May 22. He was listed as having a no bond hold.

The charges against Sutterfield include possession of methamphetamine, possessing paraphernalia to ingest drugs and conspiring to have and use drugs while in the Baxter County Detention Center.

The charges in two of his cases were picked up when he was being booked into the jail or while he was an inmate.

The earliest case was opened after Sutterfield was arrested in late January 2022 when he was pulled over for a minor traffic infraction.

According to the probable cause affidavit, Sutterfield was a passenger in the vehicle.

At the time, Sutterfield had an outstanding arrest warrant and a waiver on file permitting warrantless searches of his person and property.

According to the probable cause affidavit, another occupant in the vehicle told the officer that Sutterfield had “been reaching around his head rest and stuffing items into the seat cover.”

The officer reported locating a cloth bag with several loose prescription pills, a bag containing suspected methamphetamine, another bag holding what was believed to be marijuana and smoking pipes commonly used to ingest methamphetamine and marijuana.

At the time of the arrest, Sutterfield was reported to be on parole.

Sutterfield was arrested again in late March last year after he attempted to bring drugs into the Baxter County Detention Center.

After Sutterfield has been in the body scanner area as part of his booking process, a clear plastic bag was found behind the machine containing a substance that field-tested positive for methamphetamine.

When video taken by security cameras was reviewed, Sutterfield was seen in the body scan area, “frantically digging in his pants and throwing an item behind the body scanner” while a jailer was occupied in setting the scanner up to process Sutterfield.

The next arrest came in early June last year when Sutterfield and another inmate were accused of concealing medications given to them during routine pill call by hiding them in their mouths. It is a method known as “cheeking.”

They would then collect the medications, reported to be Xanax and Subutex, until a sufficient quantity was obtained. The two inmates would then share them with fellow prisoners.

Surveillance camera video was reviewed and was reported to show that after Sutterfield was given his prescribed dosage of Xanax, he would spit it into his hand as he reentered the pod where he was assigned.

The other inmate was seen taking his medication from his mouth and putting it inside his waistband.

In all, the video showed the two inmates had pulled off the “cheeking” of their medicines multiple times.

According to court records, there have been a total of seven criminal cases set up on Sutterfield through the years.

His charges have included domestic battery, possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia and endangering the welfare of a minor.

Sutterfield’s record shows he has served time in the Baxter County Detention Center, the state prison system and been put on probation.

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