Man high on drugs found hiding in homeowner’s closet sentenced
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AMMON — A man arrested after a homeowner found him hiding in a closet received his sentence Monday.
Rene Arismendi, Jr, 20, was placed on four years of probation after pleading guilty to felony possession of a controlled substance. Bonneville County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Arismedndi in March after he brought baggies of drugs into the stranger’s home.
As part of a plea agreement, misdemeanor charges of unlawful entry, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a drug without a prescription were dismissed. The plea agreement also specified it would be recommended Arismendi be placed on probation.
District Judge Dane H. Watkins Jr. handed down the sentence, opting to suspend a one to four-year prison sentence when placing Arismendi on probation.
Deputy reports show when the homeowner found Arismendi in the house, he had him sit on the couch until investigators arrived. When sheriff deputies got to the home, Arismendi appeared to be under the influence, paranoid and his story did not make sense.
Inside Arismendi’s bag of clothes and backpack, deputies discovered over 40 pills and a second baggie with white residue. Arismendi said the bag held methamphetamine he had smoked earlier with a friend and the pills he had gotten from someone he did not know. The pills were two types of prescription medications not prescribed to him.
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Deputies took Arismendi to the Bonneville County Jail and booked him for misdemeanor unlawful entry, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a drug without a prescription.
The Sheriff’s Office was called back to the Ammon home after a four-year-old child found a black pouch stuffed in the couch cushion. When deputies opened the pouch, they discovered a small Ziploc bag filled with about 15 grams of methamphetamine. A deputy also found one of Arismendi’s paystubs and a receipt from a probation drug test, according to court records.
Watkins ordered Arismendi to complete 100 hours of community service and pay $1,685.50 in fees and fines.