Man who succeeded in treatment program given probation instead of prison

Forty-seven-year-old Nicholas Speak pled guilty to drug charges during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court/Criminal Division on Monday (July 21).
He was put on probation for 10 years. One factor that kept him out of prison is that Speak enrolled in and graduated from the John 3:16 rehabilitation program. Speak graduated in February. Prosecutors had urged him to get treatment and had said if he did and stayed with the program through graduation, “options other than prison” would be explored.

Speak faced charges in three criminal cases – each arrest stemming from a compliance visit to ensure he was observing the terms and conditions of his parole. When officers made compliance visits in February and March of 2023 and again in March last year, they found drugs and paraphernalia to use drugs in Speak’s residence.

The items of paraphernalia found in the various visits included butane torches, multiple scales, devices used for smoking methamphetamine, measuring spoons and a syringe. In addition, methamphetamine was found on two of the visits.

A woman living in the camper trailer with Speak was also arrested during the March 2024 visit. Forty-one-year-old Miranda Pinkston appeared during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court/Criminal Division Monday (July 14) and pled guilty to a number of drug-related charges.

She was sentenced to six years in prison with a judicial transfer to one of the community correction centers in the state for addiction treatment. During the visit, officers reported finding a plastic bag containing methamphetamine, seven Oxycodone pills, glass smoking pipes, a digital scale, marijuana seeds and a clear bottle with marijuana inside.

Pinkston had initially rejected the plea agreement offered by the state but, after a time, returned to the courtroom to say she wanted to enter a guilty plea.

Circuit Judge John Putman questioned Pinkston until he was satisfied that she felt the plea deal was the best avenue for her to take. After she had answered his questions, the judge accepted the plea calling for the judicial transfer.

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