


A 41-year-old Fort Smith man who was already out on parole for a 2019 drug arrest will be heading back to prison after he was sentenced on Wednesday for new drug charges that triggered a Felony Petition to Revoke.
According to information from Fort Smith Circuit Court, Christopher Michael Rister drew a three year prison sentence with nine years suspended on the back-end of a plea deal that also saw him receive a sentence enhancement as a Habitual Offender.
Rister has been in the Sebastian County Detention Center since May 20 after his arrest for Felony Failure to Appear in court on an August 2020 arrest for Possession of Methamphetamine nd Paraphernalia charges. A Petiti0n to revoke was issued six days after his incarceration for that arrest.
He has had three Felony Failure to Appear arrests in total, and a 2019 arrest for similar drug charges for which he received a suspended imposition of a six-year sentence was the basis of the new petition to revoke warrant.
Rister awaits transfer to the Arkansas Department of Corrections at the SCDC.



