A man who was sentenced to a five-year term of felony probation last year for unlawful dogfighting is now awaiting transport to an Arkansas prison.
Jaquavian Jaqwon Johnson, 20, appeared late Tuesday afternoon before Circuit Judge Carlton Jones on motions to revoke three five-year terms of probation Johnson received in October 2017 as part of a plea bargain. One of the terms of probation Johnson received was in connection with pit bulls seized by Texarkana Animal League.
Animal control officers received a report Jan. 13 at about 1 p.m. from Miller County dispatchers regarding people fighting dogs on East 11th Street, according to a probable cause affidavit used to create the following account. Officers made contact with two men at East 11th and Louisiana streets. One of the men was in possession of a red and-brindle pit bull with "ears cut back all the way to its head."
Cutting the ears off of a dog is a practice among dogfighting owners who don't want other dogs to latch onto an ear during a fight. That dog's owner, Christopher Harper, was charged in the case and is currently serving a five-year term of probation he received as part of a plea bargain in February.
Other dogs, including at least one owned by Johnson, were seized as well. Some of the animals had puncture marks consistent with fighting.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Connie Mitchell signed off in July on a petition to revoke Johnson's probation in the unlawful dogfighting case. Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Chuck Black signed off on petitions to revoke Johnson's probations for residential burglary and theft of property in a case unrelated to the case involving animal fighting.
The allegations listed in support of revoking Johnson's probation are the same in all of the cases. Johnson was arrested Dec. 9, 2017, for misdemeanor domestic battery in Hempstead County. Johnson was positive for marijuana during a screening at intake Oct. 25, 2017, and tested positively for the substance again Feb. 1.
According to the petition to revoke, Johnson failed to gain or maintain stable employment in violation of his conditions of probation. Johnson was dropped May 18 from a class to address substance abuse for failing to participate.
Johnson also fell short of meeting court-ordered financial obligations. When sentenced to probation in the animal fighting case, Johnson was assessed a $1,000 fine and ordered to pay $5,240 in restitution to the Texarkana Animal Care and Adoption Center. In addition to those debts, Johnson failed to make regular payments toward various fees and court costs.
At his hearing Tuesday, Johnson was sentenced to five years in the Arkansas Department of Correction on each of the three felonies for which he was serving probation. All of the terms will run concurrently.
Johnson also received one-year terms of suspended imposition of sentence on the animal fighting and theft of property cases and a five-year term of suspended imposition of sentence on the burglary charge. The suspended terms allow the trial court to impose additional terms of confinement on Johnson if he engages in criminal conduct during those periods following his release from prison.