Man picked up in drug bust pleads guilty to federal charges

A Baxter County man who was one of five people recently arrested and charged with federal drug crimes has entered a guilty plea, according to Federal District Court for the Western District of Arkansas records.

Fifty-eight-year-old David Rains entered his guilty plea late last month. A pre-sentencing report was ordered by the court. A date for formal sentencing is not yet set.

Rains faces a maximum term of 15 years, a maximum fine of $250,000 or both imprisonment and a fine.

He was arrested June 10 when a Mountain Home police officer stopped the vehicle Rains was driving in the area of U.S Highway 62 and Walmart Drive for traffic violations.

Once the stop was made, a drug dog was deployed and gave a positive indication for the presence of narcotics.

A loaded handgun was found stuffed between the seats of the vehicle and almost 4 grams of methamphetamine was found in Rains’ wallet.

When Rains was questioned, he told officers that he was coming from a residence occupied by 61-year-old Kathleen Novy. He is alleged to have said he “always goes” to Novy for drugs, specifically methamphetamine, and that he purchased “8-balls” from Novy on a “routine basis.”

Novy is also facing federal drug charges.

According to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Arkansas, the arrests of Rains, Novy and three others all stem from an Organized Drug Enforcement Task Force investigation launched in 2023.

The investigation centered on suspected drug dealers in the Mountain Home area.

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