Robert Daniel Walker, owner of Flying Possum Leather in Fayetteville, was sentenced in Washington County Circuit Court Monday to two years in prison after pleading guilty to a felony marijuana charge, according to a court sentencing order.
Judge William Storey sentenced Walker, 65, on a Class C felony charge of possession of marijuana with purpose to deliver. A Class C felony is punishable by a sentence of three to 10 years, said Brian Lamb, Washington County deputy prosecuting attorney.
Walker was sentenced to 10 years, but the judge suspended eight years of his sentence, Lamb said.
Walker can be released in 9 months if he completes a drug treatment program and is paroled, Lamb said. He will be assigned to a state Department of Community Correction facility, the sentencing order shows.
Walker was arrested in April and accused of smuggling more than 10 pounds of marijuana through FedEx, records show.
Also arrested were his son James Wallace Walker, 32, of Mendocino, Calif., and Aimee Renae Clark, 24, of Fayetteville.
Lamb said he did not pursue charges against James Wallace Walker and Clark after the dad told authorities he was entirely responsible for the crime.
In April, drug task force officers were contacted by Springdale Police about suspicious package at the FedEx Office. Officers obtained a warrant and found 10.75 pounds of pot in the package, according to a police report.
Undercover officers delivered the package to Clark’s residence on South College, the report states. Police said Clark answered the door, signed for the package and took it into the residence.
Robert and James Walker were arrested later in the evening when police said they picked up the package at Clark’s residence and attempted to put it in the trunk of a vehicle.
Officers executed a search warrant at the residence on South College and found a scale, six grams of marijuana, old plastic bags with marijuana residue, new plastic bags and $4,200 cash, the report states.
Robert Walker is the brother of the Flying Possum’s longtime owner, Bruce Walker, who died when the business caught fire on Dickson Street in March 2011. The brother reopened the business in a new location on Block Avenue.
The brother apparently was trying to use proceeds from pot sales to prop up the business, Lamb said.
