Abel Tomlinson, a local political activist and former candidate for public office who pleaded guilty to drug charges last month, was allowed out of jail over the weekend to get married, a prosecuting attorney said.
Tomlinson, 32, received an 8-year sentence on Nov. 2 and turned himself in as required on Nov. 21 to the Washington County Detention Center, records show.
He is being held at the jail in south Fayetteville while awaiting transfer to a state Department of Correction prison.
On Thursday (Dec. 6), Judge William Storey granted Tomlinson’s request to be let out of jail for the weekend to attend his own wedding, said Matt Durrett, Washington County deputy prosecuting attorney. Durrett said he also did not object to the request.
Tomlinson was booked back into the county jail Tuesday at 9:03 a.m., according to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office website. (The photo accompanying this story is from Tuesday’s booking.)
Tomlinson pleaded guilty to two felony counts of delivery of psilocybin mushrooms and two felony counts of delivery of marijuana, according to his sentencing order.
Authorities said he was arrested after a 9-month investigation into marijuana and LSD trafficking in Northwest Arkansas.
The local Fourth Judicial District Drug Task Force utilized a confidential informant who bought marijuana and LSD from Tomlinson, according to a preliminary arrest report.
Law enforcement officers recorded the meetings and searched Tomlinson’s home in Fayetteville, finding 300 plastic baggies, three grams of marijuana and other substances that were sent to the Arkansas State Crime Lab for drug analysis, the report states.
Tomlinson ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 2008 and for the state House in 2010. He also was an organizer of Occupy movements in Northwest Arkansas.
