Van Buren man with multiple felony convictions headed back to big house after plea deal this week

A Van Buren man was sentenced this week to eight years with another nine years suspended on felony Possession of Methamphetamine and Failure to Appear charges after a plea deal in Sebastian County Circuit Court.

Fifty-year-old Vendle Ray Johnson, who has various felony convictions stretching all the way back to the early-90's, drew eight years with two suspended on both the the drug charge and the failure to appear, with the sentencing enhanced by a habitual offender tag. All time was set to run concurrently.

Since a 1996 arrest and conviction for forgery Johnson has had at least seventeen interactions with courts in Crawford and Sebastian County and has been sent off to prison at least five times that we can document. As a poster boy for rehabilitation, he usually commits the next crime that lands him in jail before the last sentence he served should have legitimately ended.

Since 1996, Johnson has been charged with and/or convicted of Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of paraphernalia, Breaking nd Entering, Theft of Property. Aggravated Assault, Criminal Mischief, Failure to Appear, Forgery, numerous Revocations as well as a Property Forfeiture stemming from his drug activities.