WALNUT RIDGE, Ark. — The director of Jumpstart Ministries is accused of paying an undercover agent $100 for 10 placebo pills presented as prescription pain medication, according to court records filed Friday, Oct. 30.
Danny Lee Whitmire, 63, faces charges of use of a communication device, a Class C felony, and possession of a counterfeit substance, a Class D felony.
According to a probable cause affidavit, an undercover agent with the 3rd Judicial District Drug Task Force was introduced to Whitmire on Sept. 3. At the time, Whitmire was communicating by cellphone with another person about purchasing prescription pain medication for his wife, the affidavit alleges.
During the introduction, the agent offered Whitmire 10 placebo tablets represented as 30-milligram oxycodone hydrochloride tablets. Whitmire paid the agent $100 for the tablets, according to the affidavit.
Whitmire told the agent he typically purchased Percocet tablets from another person and expected that person to have more available that weekend, the affidavit states. Whitmire and the agent exchanged phone numbers so he could contact the agent if his usual source could not obtain additional tablets.
A judge found probable cause for an arrest warrant on Oct. 29. The affidavit was filed the following day in Lawrence County Circuit Court.
The bench warrant shows it was served at 2:56 p.m. Oct. 30 and lists a Dec. 7 court date. No bond amount is listed on the warrant.
The 3rd Judicial District prosecuting attorney’s office announced Whitmire’s arrest Friday, according to a release from Sharp County Sheriff Shane Russell.
Over the past year, the prosecutor’s office, police chiefs across the district, the sheriffs of Jackson, Lawrence, Randolph and Sharp counties, and authorities in surrounding districts received complaints about a rehabilitation facility in the district, the release said.
Local law enforcement and the prosecutor’s office referred the complaints to the 3rd Judicial District Drug Task Force, which opened a formal investigation. Arkansas State Police assisted in the investigation that led to Whitmire’s arrest, according to the release.
The prosecutor’s office said its investigation remains ongoing. The release described documents not already public as exempt from disclosure.
Whitmire is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
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